Part I – Pimp Your Brand
Welcome to my 4-part “Pimp Your Career” series.
This post will be about your personal brand. When people think of you, what do they think? Sales guru, marketing manager, computer geek, public-relations person, etc… This is your personal brand. If the answer you get is different from the one you want, you have some work to do. There’s a lot out there right now about personal branding. You need to know what that means for you, and you need to know how to take maximum advantage of it. Your personal brand is what makes you special. It’s how you distinguish yourself from everyone else in medical sales, healthcare sales, lab sales, pharma sales, pathology sales, imaging sales, clinical diagnostics sales, and sales of cellular, molecular, and biotech products. It’s how you market yourself.
Think about how corporate brands market themselves. They are everywhere, and you should be, too. By that, I mean:
1. Have a Facebook page
2. Create a profile on LinkedIn
3. Interview On Demand offers a CareerView profile for jobseekers that not only includes your resume, but also a video where you can answer a few interview questions and include a “why should you hire me” summary. It’s a great tool to add a little kick to your resume, and it’s more professional than YouTube.
4. Do some blog writing– on your own blog, or as a guest contributor on one that’s related to your field.
5. Have a personalized signature on all your e-mails, so that when people see it, they think of you. Have a logo. Even on personal e-mail accounts.
6. Keep up with your network through phone calls and e-mail. Don’t lose track of people who will be great references for you.
If you’re having trouble defining yourself, ask others what they think is special about you. What makes you different from others in your field? Go to Dan Schwabel’s blog. It’s THE source for info about personal branding.
Think about personal branding in terms of your elevator pitch. It’s the answer to the “what do you do?” and the “tell me about yourself” questions. Your personal branding statement is going to highlight your best attributes, and be quick, focused, and memorable.
Seth Godin points out that people make decisions based on little scraps of information all the time:
It’s not fair but it’s true. Your blog, your outfit, the typeface you choose, the tone of your voice, the expression on your face, the location of your office, the way you rank on a Google search, the look of your Facebook page…
Pimp Your Career! – a 4-part series
I’m going to spend the next few posts showing you how to jazz up your job search and career…step it up, trick it out, be outstanding (like “Pimp My Ride”). As a medical sales recruiter, I am aware that competition is fierce in healthcare sales, pathology sales, imaging sales, pharmaceutical sales, laboratory sales, and all sales involving cellular, molecular, biotechnology or biotech products. The candidate who will be hired will have taken a little more time and gone to some extra trouble with his resume, worked on his interview skills, and will have a great network of people in the industry that he/she knows to leverage. There will be four parts:
I. Pimp Your Personal Brand
II. Pimp Your Resume
III. Pimp Your Network
IV. Pimp Your Interview Skills
And they will be in that order, because that is the order that you should work with for maximum success. So, sit back, buckle up and get ready to take your career off the blocks, on high octane, with full-on bling!! I hope it will be helpful for you.
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