Your Brand - Your CV - Your Career

What is Personal Brand?
Definition: Personal Brand is the way you let the world know about who you are, your personality, values, skills and abilities. Personal Branding is similar to product branding, just applied to the individual. Your personal brand influences how other people view you; by highlighting your unique selling points and helping you to stand out from the crowd.
 
BUT your personal brand must be a real reflection of your identity; who you are and what you stand for, not just a fake image that you think is what people want to see. It's what people say about you when you are not in the room!
 
Being Authentic and Appropriate:
Remember:

• It is easier being yourself than acting a part
• Sometimes you have to adjust your behaviour to suit the circumstances
  
• Employers get to know you quicker if you are yourself
  
• People trust and connect with you if they see the real you
  

  
Why is your CV so important?
Employers only know as much as you tell them and they discover that information in a way that you can control.
 
A really effective CV allows the employer to see all of your qualities; the human being, the student and the candidate. Today academic qualifications are increasingly standard, a truly impactful CV can give you the edge by showing the employer the real you.

• Think about what makes you stand out from the crowd and that will appeal to an employer. 

• Think about how you can show them those unique qualities in writing

• Think about your CV as a marketing flier for your brand

 
Personal Brand in your CV:
Your choice of font, structure and even paper tells the employer things about you. The words you use, how accurate the spelling and grammar is, whether you use boring language or exciting language and whether you put your personality into writing it all show through and give them an impression of you.
 
Don’t just create a boring standard document; think about how you can make a connection with them and stand out from the other CV’s in the pile without being weird and whacky just for the sake of it.  

• Have you made all of your unique selling points stand out?

• Have you done a good job of selling your brand?

 
 
Facts and Evidence:
There is no point sending off a CV that just talks about things in theory. Employers want evidence. So your CV must give them that evidence.
 
Use concrete facts. Instead of saying ‘I served customers in the shop’ when you are trying to show customer service skills on your CV, you should say ‘I served over 100 customers each day either on the phone or face to face resolving complaints and managing payments’ suddenly you have told them what, how often and how, not just that you did it....
 

What do employers look for?
Employers just want the next CV that they look at to be perfect for the vacancy they have. They do not want to wade through 100 CV’s to find the right one, they have a list of things that they want to find and they need to be persuaded that you tick the boxes.
 
You need to understand what kind of a business they are, what type of job you are applying for and most importantly what sort of personality they want to see. Customer Service roles may require a very different personality to a Research Assistant and Police Cadet different to a Hair Dresser. Imagine yourself in the job - does it fit?  
 
Walking the Talk:
There is absolutely no point in creating a CV that you cannot live up to in person. Our Confident Performance Workshop will help you to understand how to impress potential employers with your ability to perform under pressure BUT in terms of your personal brand - be honest about what you can do, be realistic about your ability to deliver and don't make claims for yourself that you cannot live up to. Once you are known as someone who over promises and under delivers it is a tough label to change.
 
Always Being On Duty for Your Brand:
You never know who might be able to help you in your career, you can never tell which job might be the one that can lead to a fantastic career of opportunities and personal development and so it is important that you always represent the best version of yourself that you can.
 
Whether you are visiting a career fair, talking to employers, meeting people socially or engaging in social media communication you should always think about the image you are projecting, how people will experience you and how they will remember you.
 
Some of the best career opportunities come when you least expect them; don't blow it by not being focused on projecting a brand that those meeting you will be impressed by. You are your own Marketing Department and you can control the way that the rest of world views you and as a result you can ensure that you give yourself the best possible chance of being successful in whatever career you choose.