Do you need a personal brand to get a job?

The financial uncertainty of the post-pandemic years made for a rocky job market. One year there are more jobs than candidates, the next there are more candidates than jobs.

 

Whatever the job market conditions, developing a personal brand could help you stand out against other candidates. 

 

 

What is a personal brand?

 

The term ‘personal brand’ might give you the ick. Perhaps you imagine turning your name into a logo on Canva or coming up with a strapline for your skillset. Don’t worry. It’s not that.

 

A personal brand is about communicating your purpose, values, and work consistently. Choosing what it is about yourself that you want to share publicly and drawing red lines around the rest.

 

“Think about what you want to be known for,” says Tereza Litsa, Freelance Marketing Strategist.

 

 

Do hiring managers really care about a personal brand?

 

Increasingly, a social media search will form part of the candidate assessment process. The purpose might be to check for risky content (that would go against the organisation’s social media policy), but it will also help the hiring manager learn more about you.

 

Nick Billingham, Managing Director at charity recruitment agency Charity People, says: “Whilst not everyone feels comfortable investing time and mental energy on their personal brand, I’d wholeheartedly recommend it. Building your network and the volume of people who know you, or know of you, will only help in a competitive marketplace.”

 

 

The rise of LinkedIn

 

LinkedIn is one of the oldest social media platforms. In years gone by it’s been a bit of a CV dumping ground. Now it has more than a billion members and according to Sprout Social, “When it comes to reaching professionals…LinkedIn is where it’s at.” And for charities and non-profits becoming alarmed by misinformation and discrimination on X, LinkedIn has offered safe haven.

 

 

How to grow your personal brand on LinkedIn

 

Update your LinkedIn profile

 

If you haven’t logged into LinkedIn for a while, start with updating your profile.

 

Make sure your education and employment history are up to date and for bonus points, re-draft your headline and your about section.

 

Your headline should say what you do, who you do it for, and, ideally, the value you’ve added. For example, ‘Award-winning communicator for women’s rights charities.’

 

When it comes to your about section think try:

• Summarising your experience into one or two sentences
• Detailing some of your achievements in a short paragraph or bullet points
• Sharing some of your career goals and aspirations

Make sure your about section reflects who you are, your values, and what you’re looking for.

 

If you’re already active on LinkedIn, look back through your posts and add some of them to your featured section by pinning them to your profile. Try to choose posts that are evidence of your skills and achievements.

 

 

Grow your social network

 

You might be glad to hear that being active on LinkedIn doesn’t mean you have to post all the time. “To properly invest in your personal brand, you need to engage in other people’s content,” says Billingham.

 

Engaging with others through reacting, commenting on their content or inviting them to connect with you can help to grow your professional network and support your job search. Litsa says that “comments are sometimes favoured by LinkedIn over posts.”

 

Building genuine relationships with others on LinkedIn is a long-term commitment, not something you can do once or twice and expect to see impact. Litza says to “think about LinkedIn as a conference. You wouldn’t hand your business card to someone at a conference and expect to get a job.”

 

 

Start posting on LinkedIn

 

Try to get comfortable with posting on the platform, too. It really does give you an opportunity to stand out and become known for holding certain values or expertise. Litsa says, “choose two or three topics you feel comfortable talking about” and post about them consistently.

 

You can do text only posts on LinkedIn so there’s little or no need for fiddling about in Canva or even braving a selfie.

 

However, if you’re looking to up your posting game and you do have social media or design experience, try including a:

• Selfie or image of you in action, doing what you do
• Video. There’s been a 53% increase in video posts on LinkedIn in the past year
• Graphic carousel – the post type with the highest engagement rate

LinkedIn also has a good option for you if long-form content is your vibe. Write a think-piece or guide and post it as an article.

 

With an up to date profile, consistent engagement and networking, and perhaps a few posts here and there, your personal brand will grow and help with whatever’s next for your career.