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Personal branding is a powerful force. It can differentiate you from other job seekers and propel your career to dizzying heights, if your brand is positive and relevant to your targeted prospective employers. It can also pull the rug out from under you and your job search if it is not. Do you know what your personal brand is? You should because everyone else around you does!

Just what are your personal branding attributes, for example? Are you caring, dependable, creative, fun-loving, intelligent, energetic, optimistic, reserved, or quirky? Is your personal brand so strong that adjectives describing you immediately leap into the minds of those who know you or see you? Are the majority of those adjectives positive and similar? Then you have succeeded in being clear, consistent, and constant in expressing your unique brand through word and action. If not, you have a bit of brand-building to do.

Are you a confident and savvy job seeker with personal branding pizzaz? Take this short Job Search Quiz – Part 1 about the initial stages of your job search. In Part 2 of this series to follow, interviewing will be addressed.

Directions: Ask yourself which behavior or quote is most like what you would do or say for each question, and keep track of your answers.

1. You have built a LinkedIn Profile because you have heard it is important to have one. Your LI Profile:
a. Is short and sparse, listing the bare minimum facts, OR
b. Starts with a career focus and your personal branding attributes and strengths, OR
c. Describes your academic career and work history in minute detail.

2. You are networking for a job at a professional association meeting, and have just had a conversation with someone who has promised to keep you in mind for job leads or referrals. What do you do next?
a. Quickly move to another person so you can maximize your time at the event, OR
b. Offer your branded personal business card and express your gratitude, OR
c. Ask how soon you can expect to hear back, as you will be waiting.

3. You are putting together what you believe is a “killer resume”. You start with your name and contact information and follow with:
a. A reverse chronological listing of all your jobs, job titles, and dates of employment, OR
b. Your career focus and a branded summary with key accomplishments, OR
c. A general summary that covers several possible job targets and lists all your skills.

4. You are not fond of writing cover letters but know that submitting a letter is required in addition to a resume. You:
a. write a brief, generic cover letter that you can use for any job opening, OR
b. research the employer and write a targeted cover letter that shows your personal brand, OR
c. write a two-page cover letter that includes every aspect of what you have to offer for several different types of jobs.

5. You are an avid Twitter user, especially during your job search. Your tweets include:
a. stream of consciousness comments about how search is going (mostly bad), OR
b. on-brand, positive statements/retweets and links to resources, OR
c. constant re-tweets of what others have to say, including their offensive language.

In all these questions, answer (b) demonstrates your professionalism AND allows you to demonstrate your distinctive and positive personal brand. Answers (a) and (c) may also reveal a lot about your brand, but not necessarily what a potential employer wants to hire.

What is your personal brand? Take the complimentary 360Reach personal branding assessment to obtain honest feedback from those who know you well. Then contact Susan@AssessmentGoddess.com for coaching so your personal brand can become a differentiating asset in your job search.

About Susan Guarneri
Known as the Career Assessment Goddess, Susan Guarneri has a Master’s Degree in Counseling from The Johns Hopkins University and 24 years of experience in career counseling and career coaching. With 13 career-industry certifications, she is the only National Certified Career Counselor worldwide who is also certified as a Master Personal Branding Strategist and Online Identity Management Strategist. In addition, she has won recognition as a Master Resume Writer with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Susan has assisted thousands of professionals and executives with career transitions and job changes. She has also provided Fortune 500 companies, colleges, non-profits, and government agencies with management development, team building, career consulting, training, and workforce development. Susan is co-author of Job Search Bloopers (2008 Career Press).

Phone: 866-881-4055 Toll-free
Email: Susan@AssessmentGoddess.com
Websites: www.AssessmentGoddess.com and www.Resume-Magic.com
Blog: http://blog.careergoddess.com/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/assessmentgoddess
Twitter: @susanguarneri