Career Change and Personal Branding!

Personal branding as it relates to careers occurs when an individual making a career transition creates an impression about how they are different than the next person. The main purpose of personal branding is to get the attention of the employer and to motivate them to choose you for the position they are looking to fill. Success in personal branding always starts with understanding what you are passionate about, the qualities that make you unique as an individual, what value you bring to an employment situation, and, the personal and career goals you want to achieve. The key is to work from a position of passion and strength, have a willingness to continously learn,and improve your personal brand .

There following is a list of five questions to ask your self and more importantly be able to share with potential employers!

1.What gets me out of bed in the morning? This answer to this question is really about why you have chosen what you have done in your career and why you have succeeded in your past jobs.

2.What can I bring to your workplace? The answer is about what makes me so compelling and is illustrated through the results, achievements and accomplishments of your past work. Think about what you are most proud of when you think about your past successes.

3.How do I improve the workplace? This answer explores what makes me standout and what makes me different from others. The soft skills and personal management skills such communication, leadership, hardworking, and able to handle change well are examples. These examples should be backed up with concrete examples and recommendations.

4.Why am I in demand? The answers will reflect what the specific occupation, industry, labour market demand for people to be successful. Your answer will demonstrate value that you bring that meets the need of your chosen occupation and industry.

5.Why should you hire me? This is summary of the answers to all five questions why you have been successful in the past, what past accomplishments would be transferrable to your next job, what soft skills do you have that will make your workplace better and how does your unique value and skills meet the going needs in the marketplace

Brian Lambier is a career coach , certified retirement coach and President/Owner of Career Vitality Services in Calgary. For more information on all of the services offered by Career Vitality Services contact Brian at (403) 234-9119 or info@careervitality.ca