It might be April Fool’s Day, but personal career branding is no joke.

You already have a personal brand, whether you realize it or not.

Why should you care about this?  I can think of a few reasons:

• Influence: If you want your voice to be heard, you need to have influence. Building and sustaining influence requires a strong and compelling brand that others trust and respect.
• Control: Rather than letting life happen to you, being intentional with your personal brand gives you more control over your career direction.
• Competitive Advantage: Having a strong and compelling brand gives you a competitive advantage to pursue interesting assignments, attain career advancements, and navigate career transitions into different roles or industries.

If you’re still not convinced, let me share my journey.

My first career was in forestry, and I struggled to find my first professional job due to a flooded job market.  I took a part-time entry-level position with a park system to get my foot in the door.

Using my personal brand power, I was promoted to a full-time position within three months and promoted to manager within one year.

These positions did not previously exist.  These new roles were CREATED for me based on my brand.

When I was ready to transition into a completely different career field, I once again used my brand’s power to land a new job without going back to school or acquiring any further certifications.  And I DOUBLED my salary in the process.

My entire career history looks like this.  As I continued to move around, jobs were created for me based on my brand.

With my brand,

• I can influence others to hire me and buy into my ideas,
• I am in control of my career direction;
• and I have a competitive advantage over others, even those with more advanced degrees, certifications, and years of experience.

Have I piqued your interest?  Then stay tuned for next week when we’ll start diving into how to create your personal brand.

Do you know someone that could learn from this?  Invite them to subscribe to my newsletter.

Wishing you the best!

P.S.  Check out my group coaching program for women starting next week!