There are a lot of discussions nowadays about the importance of personal branding for senior level managers. Some professionals who have established careers with many years of experience believe c-level personal branding is only required for the young up-and-coming executive. The truth is no matter where you are in your career and whether you’re searching for a job or not, your personal brand is critical for your career. There are no age barriers with c-level personal branding and here’s why it’s so important.
Branding Defines Who You Are Now
If you’re actively searching for a job, brushing up your executive LinkedIn profile is a necessity. Recruiters look at LinkedIn to learn about a candidate’s skills and experience, but also to get an idea of who they are. LinkedIn is a perfect platform to demonstrate who you are as a person and as an executive. When a recruiter looks at your profile, they should clearly see what value you could bring to the table and how well you would fit into their organization. This is what c-level personal branding is all about.
How Personal Branding Helps Your Job Search
Your personal brand will stand out to a hiring manager. Whether you met them at a networking event or reached out to them on LinkedIn, the initial conversation is what will be most memorable. But in order for a hiring manager to know what your personal brand is all about, you have to know how to demonstrate it. Otherwise, they may get a wrong impression of you and your job search efforts will suffer as a result. Companies want to know exactly the type of person they are hiring, so make sure you’re clearly demonstrating what you’re all about.
Branding Has No Age Limit
Even established executives with dozens of years of experience have to focus on c-level personal branding. Your personal brand does more than just help with a job search. It builds your credibility with others in your industry even if you have no intentions of searching for a new job. No matter how old or young you are, the best business relationships happen when everyone knows what you stand for, including yourself.
Professional Resume Services works with executives in various aspects of their career. If you have an executive LinkedIn profile, we can help you optimize it to clearly show your personal brand and potentially increase your number of opportunities in your career. There are no age barriers when it comes to c-level personal branding, and every action you take is a reflection of it. To learn more about how we can help you with personal branding, feel free to contact us at any time.
Have you ever felt like you were spinning your wheels during your job search? You may be putting forth a lot of effort but not moving forward as quickly as you’d like. Sometimes it’s best to take a step back and evaluate your strategy and make some alterations as needed. If you need to, get advice from an executive resume service or a professional LinkedIn profile writer to help you jumpstart your searching efforts again. Here are a few great tips to help you speed up your job search.
Focus On Your Personal Brand
Every action you take should boost your c-level personal branding. Whether it’s at a networking event, writing a resume, developing your LinkedIn profile or anything else, your brand should always be front and center. If recruiters or hiring managers can’t get a good sense of who you are as a person or a worker, they’ll be hesitant to take the next steps with you in the job interview process. Focusing on c-level personal branding is only going to benefit your job search efforts.
Network Online And In Person
Networking has always been an essential part of a job search and will continue to be. You can network around the clock if you want to with platforms like LinkedIn. In fact, many people start conversations on LinkedIn before meeting at a formal event, just so there’s already some familiarity there. Just be sure to have a professional LinkedIn profile writer review your profile to ensure you’re not making any critical mistakes inadvertently.
Target Your Resume
An executive resume service can help you target your resume to the employer you’re interested in. You can send out as many resumes as you want, but if it’s too general then companies will see right through it and toss it to the side. Resume targeting is critical today, so it’s well worth the time and effort to find out exactly what a company wants and how your skills fit.
Build A Positive Online Presence
You have to assume any potential hiring manager is going to do an online search for your name. This is another reason why working with a professional LinkedIn profile writer is important. They can emphasize certain keywords to ensure your profile shows up high in the search results. Do an online search for your name and clean up anything that doesn’t demonstrate your overall brand.
Professional Resume Services understands how frustrating it can be not knowing what employers want to see. Our executive resume service goes beyond simply writing error-free resumes. We can work with you throughout your job search, answer any questions you may have and make any tweaks along the way. If you’re ready to speed up your job search and get into the job you want quicker, contact us to see if there’s any way we can help.
Having positive momentum in anything you do is motivating. The great thing about this is people get motivated in different ways, so there’s no right or wrong way to accomplish it. When it comes to an executive job search, if you aren’t moving in a positive direction every day then you could fall behind and find yourself in a hole. But how do you keep positive momentum without experiencing burnout? Various strategies through LinkedIn profile development, networking, c-level personal branding and more can help keep you engaged and moving in the right direction.
Plant Seeds And Continue Moving Forward
One way to keep momentum going is to not spend too much time on any given action. For example, you may research a company you’re interested in, find out who the hiring manager is and send them your resume. Don’t sit around and wait for a response because you may not get one right away, if at all. Instead, consider that one seed being planted and then move on to the next company you’re interested in. Or better yet, focus on improving your online c-level personal branding in the meantime. The more time you spend being idle, the higher the likelihood of you losing valuable momentum in your job search.
Set Short-Term Goals Along Your Journey
Many people stay motivated by making short-term checklists of tasks they want to accomplish. You should still have an ultimate end goal to strive for, but the short-term goals are designed to keep you engaged and active on your journey. This could mean visiting an executive resume writing service to boost your resume, attending a networking event or working on your LinkedIn profile development. The more short-term goals you can check off your list, the more engaged you’ll be throughout the process.
Never Stop Building Your Brand
Every action you take online or in person is a reflection of your brand. When you’re focused on enhancing your c-level personal branding, you can get creative in the ways you do so. Consider creating original content to post to your blog or LinkedIn profile, engaging with connections, commenting on other original posts and more. You never know who will come across your name online, so making sure your brand appears how you want it to is essential.
At Professional Resume Services, we understand the challenges every executive faces during a job search. Our executive resume writing service helps develop resumes and brainstorms different strategies with job seekers. Momentum is important, but you have to also be careful with burnout. Sometimes taking a day off and clearing your mind can help you refocus your efforts and move forward positively. For more tips like these, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at any time.
When writing an effective resume, demonstrating your personal brand is critical. Most executives have similar skills and achievements, so what can set you apart from the rest is the overall value you bring to the table. While your brand is what it is, you can tailor the message in your resume depending on the company you are targeting. This may mean one of your most important achievements at your current company shouldn’t go on your resume when applying for another company if it’s not relevant. Companies today want to know what value you have to offer them specifically and here are some tips to help you show this clearly.
Utilize Keywords Effectively For SEO Purposes
You’ll have a hard time demonstrating your c-level personal branding if you don’t have a keyword-rich resume. SEO is critical in the landscape of job searching today to give your resume, LinkedIn profile or anything else a chance of being discovered. The good news is an executive resume writer can help you incorporate appropriate keywords while also keeping your brand in mind.
Show Some Personality
A quality aspect of c-level personal branding is showing what you’re most passionate about and what you will bring to the table at your targeted company. You can show some personality in your resume without getting personal. For example, when you write about your leadership style and techniques, the reader can get a good idea of the type of person you are and how you work with others. Without this personality, your resume may look the same as the other hundreds of resumes that come across a recruiter’s desk.
Include Metrics When You Can
Another key to writing an effective resume is incorporating metrics, statistics and numbers when they are appropriate and relate to the job you’re applying for. Don’t be shy about talking about these in your resume. Backing up your claims with actual numbers is powerful and can really hit home for a hiring manager when it relates to their company.
Only Show Relevant Information
The biggest mistake an executive resume writer always sees is when someone includes their past achievements that aren’t relevant to the job they’re applying for. Companies aren’t necessarily as concerned with what you’ve done in the past as they are with what you’ll do for them in the future. Don’t rely on the reader to make connections between the two. Your biggest accomplishment at a previous employer may not be beneficial at all to your future employer, so don’t include it if it’s not relevant.
Professional Resume Services believes c-level personal branding is what sets many executives apart from the rest. Executives often believe branding only happens during networking events. While this is true, your brand has to also be evident in your resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile and anywhere else. Once a hiring manager can clearly see what your overall brand is, you’ll have a better chance of landing the job. Feel free to contact us at any time if you need assistance with clearly demonstrating your brand on paper.
You can have an extensive amount of experience with unique skill sets and seem like a perfect fit for a job, but employers will still be hesitant to hire you if you don’t have a solid online presence. In this day and age, leaders have to be visible to the public. Having social proof that you are who you say you are is one thing, and seeing how you would be viewed in the eyes of potential customers is another. So how can you ensure your c-level personal branding is up to par? Here’s the proper way to build your online personal brand and how to manage it for years to come.
Diversify Your Visibility
You may start by working with a LinkedIn profile writing service to develop your LinkedIn profile. This is a critical component of any good online image, but it won’t build your brand alone. You also have to diversify your visibility by being active on other sites like Twitter, Facebook, your own blog and maybe even commenting on blogs written by other professionals. Any LinkedIn profile writing service will say the more visible you are, the stronger your online brand will be. So creating unique, insightful and relevant content and posting it across multiple platforms can give you the diversity you need.
Clean Up Your Online Image
Employers want to know as much as they can about a candidate. Most of the time it means they are going to run a Google search for your name and see what comes up. Before this happens, you should run the same search yourself and clean up anything you don’t want other people to see. The goal is to have your LinkedIn executive profile show up at the top of the search results so there’s no questioning in your online presence.
Never Stop Enhancing Your Personal Brand
You should never stop building and managing your online c-level personal branding. A lot of the work is done upfront with building a solid reputation, but after that it’s important to continue posting new content and staying active. Do a Google search for your name frequently just to ensure everything is still clean. The thing with c-level personal branding is you can never stop working on it if you want to maintain a strong reputation.
Professional Resume Services has plenty of tips and tricks to help executives build and manage their personal brand online. Our LinkedIn profile writing service is designed to help you create a profile from scratch or even tweak and polish your existing profile. It takes time to build your personal brand, but it’s well worth the effort. Feel free to reach out to us at any time for assistance along the way.
The New Year brings a perfect opportunity to revisit your goals from the previous year and set new ones to strive to achieve. As an executive, one of your goals may revolve around enhancing your career in different ways, which may include improving your c-level personal branding. Your personal brand isn’t something you can just create and then leave it alone. It’s a constant effort throughout the days, weeks, months and years, and sometimes it needs to be revamped if it gets too stagnant. Here are some things to look for to determine whether your c-level personal branding could use a boost.
How Has Your Reputation Changed Recently?
When it comes to personal branding for senior level managers, reputations can change throughout the course of the year. The hope is your reputation will change for the better, but sometimes poor decision-making can lead to a less-than-desirable new reputation. The good news is you can repair your reputation by focusing on c-level personal branding improvements. You may have to go out of your way to help others and demonstrate your expertise, but these small daily steps will go a long way in repairing your reputation and brand.
Evaluate Your Accomplishments From The Past Year
Think about the various developments that occurred throughout the past year. If you received more job responsibilities or achieved new accomplishments, then your LinkedIn profile needs to reflect them. No matter how different you may feel as a result of these achievements, those differences won’t be reflected in your personal brand unless you make them known. Your LinkedIn profile is the perfect way to do so by being active, posting new content, interacting with others and always promoting your brand.
Effectively Revamping Your Brand
Revamping your brand comes down to offering expertise to others they can’t get anywhere else. This can come through posting original content on your LinkedIn profile, making suggestions for improving the workplace, being more approachable, making new connections, volunteering, learning new skills and much more. The more you become a go-to resource for certain topics, the quicker your brand will be clearly demonstrated and revamped in the ways you want it to be.
Professional Resume Services believes c-level personal branding is one of the most important aspects of finding a job for executives. It takes time and effort to build and maintain your brand, but it’s well worth it for many reasons. This New Year, focus more on creating the brand you want by helping others and the benefits will start showing up in more ways than one. And never hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns about how to effectively revamp your personal brand.
Executives oftentimes have different views on what exactly c-level personal branding is. Some see it as the best way to show who you really are and the value you bring to the table, while other people see it as being overly self-promoting. If your views fall into the latter category, then it’s important to understand personal branding for senior level managers is about much more than simply self-promotion. Here’s how you can benefit from your personal brand more than you may think.
Discover Your Purpose And Have A More Fulfilling Career
Many executives focus on c-level personal branding because it helps them learn more about themselves. They may want to be a leader, but if they become increasingly uncomfortable when they are put into leadership roles, they may realize they don’t have the personality for it. On the other hand, people may thrive when they are put into those positions unexpectedly. The point is when personal branding is at the forefront of your mind, you can learn a lot about yourself and experience a more fulfilling career as a result.
Understand What Culture Fits You Best
With employees focusing more on being happy in the workplace, the concept of culture is becoming even more important. If your personal brand involves interacting with co-workers and constantly collaborating as a team, then you probably won’t want to work for a company where the employees sit in their offices all day without coming out. Focusing on c-level personal branding can help you clearly identify which type of culture you belong in.
Build on Your Strengths And Improve Your Weaknesses
You likely know what your main strengths and weaknesses are, but chances are you will discover even more as your career progresses and you get more responsibilities. When you truly prioritize c-level personal branding, you can reflect on how your strengths can bring value to the table. It’s also important to evaluate and understand your weaknesses and work on improving them. Neither is possible without understanding your personal brand.
Become An Established Leader
Executives need to be go-to people for others within a company and even outside the company. When people view your LinkedIn profile, they should be able to clearly see your leadership qualities and see you as a valuable resource. If yours doesn’t show those qualities, then it may be time to work with an executive LinkedIn profile writer to help show your brand.
Professional Resume Services sees c-level personal branding as much more than just self-promotion. In fact, it’s actually the opposite. Sure, you have to tell people why you are valuable in order to promote your brand, but there are many more benefits to personal branding than just making yourself look good. To learn more about the concept of personal branding and some strategies to go with it, feel free to reach out to us at any time.
Some things simply go out of style, and your resume may be one of them. The best professional resume writers always see resumes that look like they were written 20 years ago. And if it’s clear to those professional writers, then you can guarantee it will be clear to a hiring manager as well. Not only will an old-looking resume potentially give away your age, but it could show you’re not quite caught up with the times and hurt your job candidacy as a result. Here are some of the most common things people still do on their resume that makes it look like it’s from the stone age.
Not Including Links To Social Media Accounts
The top resume writing services will always suggest including links to your social media accounts, assuming they’ve been cleaned up. Your LinkedIn profile definitely needs to be one of the links. You can consider incorporating Twitter, Facebook or other platforms if you use them to promote your personal brand or expertise, such as with original articles. Employers today want to know more about you than what’s on a resume and cover letter, so including these links is essential.
Not Conveying Your Personal Brand Clearly
When the best professional resume writers look at your resume, they need to see exactly what your personal brand is. Older resumes are typically generic and lack any type of branding throughout the content. Conveying your personal brand can be as simple as explaining your expertise, your overall views on workplace culture and what you believe in and stand for. Personal branding is not an optional component for resumes today.
Including An “Objective” Section
Every executive resume service today will delete an objective section if they see one on a resume. By submitting your resume to an employer, you are implying your objective, which is to get a job. You don’t need to reiterate it on your resume. Instead, use the space to show why you are the best candidate for the job. Hiring managers aren’t necessarily interested in what you want, but rather, want to know what you can do for them.
Including Your Street Address
Putting your street address at the top of your resume was acceptable more than a decade ago, but not today. The best professional resume writers will only include a name, phone number, email address and maybe a link to a LinkedIn profile. Anything more than that just clutters up the resume and is essentially useless to a hiring manager.
Professional Resume Services is here to help you modernize your resume to increase your chances of landing the interview you desire. Crafting the perfect resume can be difficult with the technology employers use to filter out resumes, but having a modern one is a great first step. If it’s been a while since you last created or updated your resume, feel free to contact us for an evaluation and see how we can help you modernize it.
