Rabbi Yitzhak Miller Career Branding
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller on Feb 3rd 2010
Make Your Mark with Your Own Career Brand
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller Career Branding author Todd Bavol.
When the going gets tough, the tough get…creative. With over 11 million people in the country now out of work and the unemployment rate up to over 9%, competition in the job market is getting hotter than ever.
Gone are the days when waiting for job advertisements to come up or visiting your local employment agency were enough. Jobseekers these days are having to be proactive in their campaign, and more than ever they are having to make sure that they stand out from the competition – or eliminate it altogether.
So, what is the answer? Does a guy or a gal have to don a clown costume or run amok with a pitchfork to get noticed these days? In short, no. There is an easier, and a more legal way, and it is called branding.
Branding is a marketing term which is all about deliberately and consciously creating an image that ‘customers’ can form an emotional attachment to. It is what gives them that warm, fuzzy feeling when they think about a particular product or service or company, and when it comes to the moment of choice, it is what ‘pre-sells’ one commodity over another. In the same way that BMW conjures up images of sleek style and remarkable performance, branding makes your name synonymous with the job that you want and the skills and qualities that a prospective employer needs.
Make no mistake, you have a brand image already, whether you realize it or not – it just might not be one that you are comfortable with. Put yourself in a prospective employer’s shoes – but do it honestly. What would you think of you? Do you see a guy who always does a good job and does it on time, or someone with a ‘can’t do’ attitude who is lacking in motivation? If it is the latter, then maybe now is the time to re-invent yourself.
Honest self-analysis is one of the keys to successful personal branding, and you can make a start on this by taking a good, hard look at your strengths and weaknesses. List your skills, qualifications and experience. Hone in on your positive personality traits. Consider the areas where there may be weaknesses, things that you can address and improve upon. Keep an image in the back of your mind of the person that you want a prospective employer to see when you walk in through the door, and make yourself that person.
Branding is not about eliminating the fun things, the quirkiness, from your personality. It is about recognizing and capitalizing on your marketable qualities, and about growing those qualities to make you even more desirable within the job market. It is about making a personal promise to a potential employer that will make him feel reassured and confident.
When you have a clearer idea of what it is that you want to project to the outside world, verbalize it. Create your own branding statement – a short, succinct statement that sums up what you are best at and what your unique promise of value to an employer is. This is not merely a job title, but a statement that sums up your skills, your abilities and your uniqueness.
Once you have done this, put your branding statement absolutely everywhere – on your business cards, website, blog, Facebook account and anywhere else you can think of. Make your brand part of every offline and online interaction that you have. Research the market and the industry you want to be in, identify potential employers and network your way into the job you want. With a strong brand that not only promises, but delivers, your reputation will precede you and open the doors to that inner sanctum, the ‘hidden’ market.
Created your brand already? What is your promise of value to a potential employer or your killer branding statement?
Todd Bavol Integrity Career Transitions info@integritycareertransitions.com www.integritycareertransitions.com 750 South Shipyard Drive, Suite 300, Wilmington, Delaware 19801 Toll Free: 1-302-442-4100 Tel. No.: (302) 504-9960
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Rabbi Yitzhak Miller Tactics For Successful Career Branding
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller on Feb 3rd 2010
Tactics For Successful Career Branding
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller Tactics For Successful Career Branding By Tony Jacowski
Branded companies have a special hold on customers, attracting them with their promise of quality. They have an outstanding reputation for delivering the finest products and services in the market. They carry the responsibility of delivering the best and so does successful career branding.
Probably the best part of having a brand image for yourself is that it gives you an identity and could set you among the who’s who list of influential people. It makes you stand out as the best choice for the required job. All in all, it is selling your reputation to employers. It creates employment opportunities for you and could compel an employer to choose you above everyone else.
Branding decides your position and your status. However, a few things need to be considered and some are listed below.
Have The Necessary Education And More
Though the minimal educational qualifications will make you suitable for a job, additional education or training could set you apart and help you excel. Always try to acquire more knowledge in your chosen field and become a well-respected professional.
Experience Matters
As much as possible, keep exposing yourself to new business experiences. Attempt new assignments that are different and tougher than usual. This will help you to establish a wider knowledge base and enhance your skills, making you an indispensable asset to your employer.
Past Accomplishments Do Matter
Note down your past accomplishments and showcase them to people who matter. They are crucial in determining where you aim to be in the future.
Visual Branding
Present yourself in an appealing manner by paying attention to your attitude, appearance and etiquette. Make every effort to look the part. Remember, the first impression made on the employer lasts a long time, and will continue to surface with every interaction between the two of you.
Show Your Expertise
When building your career towards a brand, flaunt your abilities and minimize your liabilities. Advertise your skills and special abilities. However, work on promoting yourself, but do not brag. Remember, being humble and modest may not always work in your favor. In today’s business scenario, you have to make your presence felt. Have a USP or Unique Selling Proposition and use it to your advantage.
Build Strong Relationships
There is nothing more powerful than a large network of contacts. Be humble, yet firm with everyone you meet. Influence has an unusual way of catapulting you to the top.
Set A Target
Plan your strategy and set a deadline for yourself. Set realistic expectations for and do your best to achieve them. You should concentrate on achieving your goals within the specified timeframe.
Keep Building
After establishing your brand, continue striving to build on and maintain it.
Keep looking for opportunities to deliver your brand. Emphasize value, benefits and advantages to those you work for. Take pleasure in creating and communicating a clear and compelling brand. Advertising your abilities and special skills is a sure way of gaining ground on the competition.
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Rabbi Yitzhak Miller Effective Career Management
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller on Feb 3rd 2010
Effective Career Management is the Key to Finding Success
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller Effective Career Management By Sam D Goddard.
Considering the times we live in-what with a declining economy and job-related woes proliferating across the globe-these days the topic of career management could not be more important. Career management, of course, is not something only to be recurred to in times of crisis; it’s a process (and a skill) which needs to be implemented throughout every stage of our adult lives, both when things are looking up and when they are looking down. At the moment, however, in the midst of the growing unemployment rates that are sweeping the developed and developing worlds, many people are looking with great hope and expectation to the potential benefits which effective career management may have for them.
Considering the widespread sensation of panic or nervousness that has come over the job market, it’s important to come to have a clear vision of precisely what career management is, and how to carry it out effectively and comprehensively. Not only is it important to remember to keep career management in mind when the going’s good, but furthermore it’s important to remember all the pertinent areas of career management-not to overlook crucial aspects, during good times or bad. So, to start, let’s take a look at the three fundamental aspects of career management:
1. Long-term goals and strategies. In career management, it is absolutely fundamental that you have a goal in mind for the long haul and that you have a notion of how you intend to get there. There’s really not much to “manage” if these two elements are lacking, after all! As far as setting a long-term goal is concerned, you will need to first of all consider where you stand in the course of your career at the moment, on the one hand, and what the probabilities of your service/product still being marketable in the long-term look like, on the other hand. With regards to the former point, remember that the earlier on in your career the more difficult it will be to think for the long-term and to set goals for the long-term that feel realistic or achievable. With regards to the latter point, remember to try to factor in advances in technology and possible issues of redundancy when determining how marketable your particular service or product will be way down the line. This is a hard bet, and doubtlessly several unknown variables will come into the mix at one point or another; nonetheless, in pursuing a career, it’s a bet that either has to be made, or the person in question needs to seriously consider switching to another line of work.
2. Networking. Managing a career is all about having personal and professional contacts-without (a lot of) them, you will not have the sources of support necessary to help you advance professionally. Working adults with a career in the works need to remember that it is wise to work on or elaborate absolutely every potential contact (if only to have the person on a list of names you’ll never end up calling), and furthermore that burning bridges will never help you get anywhere. Many contacts may not yield anything all that significant in terms of your career advancement, yet every once in a while there is that one-and you need to be able to open a dialogue there at the right moment, which is why networking is so important in the first place. Within the realm of networking, there are three areas of interest that need to be pursues separately yet with equal energy: the place where you currently work (both among colleagues and superiors); the professional associations which represent your activity; and the major recruiters and/or companies where you hope to perhaps work in the future. Lavish these three areas with loads of networking, and you will do your career an enormous solid.
3. Résumé polishing and updating. How marketable can you possibly be when your résumé is representative of your professional standing from over a year ago?! Maintaining an updated résumé on at least a yearly basis shows people (recruiters in particular) that you take the process of career management seriously and that you’re not just counting on luck and/or a good first impression. Remember that when you reach crucial turns in the road during your professional career, you may have to reinterpret the importance of previous work experiences and present them in a new light to justify your current direction. In this sense, remember to update your personal statement when appropriate to reflect any developments in terms of goals and principal strengths. Keep in mind that an updated résumé is a brilliant tool no matter what career path you are pursuing, as it enables you to seize opportunities as they arise without the need to stall (in order to bring your image up to speed).
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