It’s a new year and you’ve decided it’s time to move on and find a new position. Unfortunately, hundreds of other people have the exact same idea. So how can you stand out from the crowd and boost your personal brand to get noticed by employers?
We asked fourteen founders what they think a job hunter can do ahead of time to make their personal brand stand out among other applications? Check out what they had to say below and get ready to impressive the recruiters at your next interview:
Include Videos
It can be a challenge to express your personal brand in a standard resume. Shooting short videos talking about your goals and background or custom videos for a position you really want will help you stand out. Like it or not, hiring managers make a lot of assumptions based on your name, address, educational background and even email address. Videos allow you to bypass the assumptions and express yourself.
– Kelly Razevedo of ShesGotSystems.com
Write a Great Cover Letter
I think it’s incredibly important to write a compelling cover letter tailored to the company. Do not write a generic letter and don’t make the letter about yourself. Make the letter about the company and how your skills would fit well into what the company is doing while citing specific examples.
– Luke Skurman of NicheSocial
Have a Presence Other than LinkedIn and Share It
You’re a designer? Lead with your portfolio (whether on Behance or your own domain). Developer? Get to the point fast with your Github profile. Biz dev guru? Maybe answer some questions on Quora and share your profile. Not only does this help employers obtain more meaningful information related to your skills, but it actually shows your awareness of the modern work landscape.
– Tarek Pertew of Uncubed
Blog
There is something to be said for a person who shares his or her ideas and opinions with the entire world. It takes confidence, courage and ambition. The blog space is an untamed arena for individuals to unleash their thoughts. I highly recommend people start blogs in their areas of expertise before they need a job. This is a must in developing a solid personal brand.
– Dusty Wunderlich of Bristlecone Holdings
Dress for the Job You Want
The way you dress, act and look (i.e. brand culture) will speak just as loudly as your experience when it comes to getting hired. Work to establish a personal and visual brand around the job that you hope to have, not the one you currently have. As a CEO, I specifically interview people with a creative, unique flare to their work who also understand promptness and deadlines.
– Nicole Munoz of StartRankingNow
Impress With a Website
An aesthetically pleasing, well-designed, personal website will make you look extremely professional. This is your opportunity to really promote your personal brand. Employers will be impressed by the effort and understand how seriously you take your work. Just put the link in the application and provide employers an opportunity to learn about you visually as well as textually.
– Stanley Meytin of True Film Pro
Be Prepared Where Others Aren’t
A good hiring manager knows how to identify a candidate who can make things happen. One of the ways to know is to observe their preparedness. For example, describe the tangible value you bring beyond the job responsibilities as well as the learned skills you have that will pair well with the position.
– Adam Roozen of Echidna
Add Depth to Your Portfolio Page
There are several ways to go above and beyond the standard resume and list of accomplishments that many of these pages feature. I strongly recommend blogging and participating in discussions within your industry, establishing valuable connections along the way and making a name for yourself in the industry.
– Phil Laboon of EyeFlow
Do the Work Ahead of Time
Whenever you do the work ahead of time, you’re showing that you’re seriously committed to working at that company. To do high-quality work, you need to understand what the company is about and what it’s trying to accomplish. The time and effort it takes to produce something worthwhile without even speaking to the company means you are world-class.
– Eric Siu of Singlegrain
Have a Strong Online Personality
The world is filled with personal brands nowadays. As an employer, the first thing I’m going to do is Google you. What I want to see isn’t the same generic Linkedin, personal WordPress and empty Quora profile that everyone else has. Show me that you are multi-dimensional.
– Diana Yuan of Indico Data
Prioritize Skills Based on the Job Posting
One of the easiest ways to improve your odds of getting noticed is to prioritize your skills from the top-down based on the specific job you are applying for. For instance, if you apply for a software developer job at a mobile app development firm, prioritize your mobile app development experiences over other things like the recency of the job or the amount of years served.
– Obinna Ekezie of Wakanow
Create a Killer Opening Line
These days, resumes can come in droves, leaving most people looking for reasons to hit “delete.” The best way to demonstrate your personal branding is to show you are different. Personal branding is about distinction, and opening up with a powerful opening line in the body of the email will intrigue the recipient.
– Raoul Davis of Ascendant Group
Pay Attention to Language
Ensure that your messaging is concise and to the point. In my opinion, people can get a feel for your brand through the language and words that you use in the job postings, on the first interview and throughout the process. Do not be so rigid, but make sure you are supplying the person on the other end with the information that is important to the position you are looking to win.
– Jayna Cooke of EventUP
Find the Hiring Manager and Pitch to Him/Her
Great people don’t always follow the rules. If we are looking to hire a client-facing position (salesperson, account manager) and they attempt to reach out directly to the hiring manager, then I know that person is probably going to succeed. By demonstrating their ability to research, write a compelling pitch and get that pitch to the right person, they will surely secure an interview.
– Ross Resnick of Roaming Hunger
Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC members generate billions of dollars in revenue and have created tens of thousands of jobs.