When you were in high school, were you known by your classmates for a signature piece of clothing, or hairstyle, or phrase? Did your friends gift you a particular item, something you loved, because they associated it with you? 

Those were the non-career equivalents of a personal brand: something linked closely with you, your personality, your passions and your talents. 

When you’re looking for a job, you want your personal brand to be of the highest reputation and quality, so people who are considering hiring you know you’re a person of integrity, dedication and solid, thoughtful work. 

Here’s how to go about building a strong personal brand to help you get your next great job. 

• First, understand your passions, priorities, skills and values. A big part of building a personal brand is understanding what matters to you. What makes you happy? What do you feel is important in the world, personally and professionally? What kind of organizations and people do you want to align yourself with? By identifying those things, you’ll determine where you want to be and what you want to do. From there, work to integrate yourself in those priority choices when and where possible, not just in your working life but in your volunteer efforts and how you spend your free time. 

• Identify what makes you different. What do you have that someone else in your line of work might not? Do you have more experience? Do you have a longer background? Do you bring different types of work experience that help you view things in a new and innovative way? Think about people you’ve worked with: What did you share and what did you learn from each other? What you bring to the table can help differentiate you from every other applicant and candidate and can help set you apart from the rest as the one to hire for the position. 

• Then, start to tell your story. If you’re someone who works in a creative field (writing, marketing, graphic design, etc.), develop a website to showcase your talents and abilities. Show off what you can do! If you work in a more linear field, it’s time to turn to LinkedIn and join groups, organizations, chats, etc., to learn more, and then start sharing any article that strikes your interest or that you believe is well-written and researched. The goal here, for any job seeker, is to share your interests and expertise, to cultivate your own following and to be seen by others as a person with a valuable opinion and great insight. 

• Next, tell the world! You might already have personal social media accounts where you share photos and memories with friends, family and Internet friends. It’s a fun habit! But it can also cause some friction if your photos online don’t exactly match up with who you want to be seen through a professional lens. You have three choices here: You can either delete photos that might not make the best first impression; you can make your accounts private so only people you allow to follow you can see what you post, or you can make professional accounts strictly for professional purposes. It’s common practice for photographers, for example, to have a personal account and a professional account; it’s a great way to allow yourself your personal expression among friends while also cultivating that perceived expertise and thought leadership position that can be really important when looking for a new job. Here, too, LinkedIn is a great asset — you can share articles you enjoy, provide your own insight and analysis, meet other people who share your interests and, with an updated resume, you might even provide companies looking for people with your background the opportunity to reach out to YOU with a possible job lead! 

• If you’re looking for a little help, or if you want to add to your skill set, consider getting some training. Asking for help is the best way to learn from an expert. Whether you want to cultivate leadership training, learn better time management or organizational skills or just learn something entirely new because it will help your career, there’s so much online training available! Whether it’s a free YouTube tutorial or an online course in leadership training, management skills, social media use, etc., there’s always something new to learn — and to add to your resume. The more skills you have, the more versatile a candidate you’ll be! 

A strong personal brand will establish you as a smart, insightful job candidate any company would be lucky to have on their team. Tell a good, honest story about yourself, bringing your accomplishments and experience to light, and show your worth before they bring you in for the interview and all you’ll need to do is close the deal! 

If you’re looking for a new opportunity but aren’t sure where to start, consider Davis Staffing. We work closely with our clients to understand their needs, but we can also help you find a new job that’s aligned with what matters to you. Take a look at the jobs we’re currently looking to fill, then give us a call!