Did you forget to manage your career today? Why, because you’re employed? How do you know a pink slip won’t arrive tomorrow?
In my 20+ years as an executive career management professional, I have seen resistance from people wanting to spend time managing their career. If you don’t, and wait until the termination papers arrive, you are too late. Initiate a call to action now and start preparing for your next career move, before being forced into an immediate job search.
Begin by thinking about how you would like others to remember you – your personal brand. What differentiates you from everybody else? Why should I employ you? If you were put on the spot in an interview right now, would you be able to articulate your personal brand, your areas of expertise, and your accomplishments?
Speaking of your accomplishments, are they only in your mind, or have you been updating your brag book as you progress in your career? It will be no use trying to remember your accomplishments after a downsizing, when your mind is flooded with worries and turbulent emotions.
Do your peers consider you a thought leader or expert? Were you chosen to present at a conference, or to serve on an executive committee of a networking group? At work, has the management team asked you to lead or participate in an internal meeting, perhaps to share about one of your initiatives?
These are all accomplishments for your brag book, and can strengthen your personal brand when you add them to your resume and LinkedIn profile.
To be hired above the competition, you must be respected and credible. One way of heightening your credibility and appeal is to volunteer in your community. Volunteering is a highly valued activity in society today, and will boost your visibility as well.
Visibility is important. Your personal brand is useless if no one knows who you are. Attending conferences will keep you active in your industry, and then you can take to social media to articulate the value gained from those events.
Society judges people on their content, their value, their credibility, their ambition, and the way they market themselves. If you are still in the prehistoric age, with a vastly outdated resume and no social media or web presence, your personal brand will be shattered to pieces. Is your personal brand intact?
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