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3 Tips to Creating Your Personal Brand in a Candidate-Driven Market

Estimated reading time ~ 3 min
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The Great Resignation sparked today’s candidate-driven market and while some industries are experiencing hiring freezes and layoffs, candidates remain in control of their destiny. For this reason alone, it is essential for Black, Latinx, and Native American students and professionals to promote their personal brand.

As you start to think of your personal brand, you may be asking yourself:

  • How do I know what my personal brand is?
  • How can I leverage my personal brand to stay competitive in the job market?
  • How do I make my personal brand memorable to recruiters and hiring managers?

To answer these questions, let’s explore 3 tips to creating your personal brand.

Identify Your Personal Brand

Your personal brand is a coalescence of your personal values and professional aspirations which encourage a sense of fulfillment in what you do. Check out the three example personas below and see if you relate to them.

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Each of these personas are up-and-coming or established experts in their field of work. Their personal brand is influenced by their experience, key skill, and aspiration. Over time they build a following of people who want their guidance and are curious about what it takes to embark on a similar path. Now, whether you connect with any of these personas or not, they should give you a fair idea of how to identify your personal brand.

If you are having difficulty with identifying your personal brand, you are not alone. Positive reinforcement is key to overcoming this barrier. You can do so by paying close attention to those moments when you realize you did something that made you feel confident and exhilarated. Then, take note of this and explore why you feel this way and how you can help others in the same way. For example, if a friend or colleague asks you for your guidance and you successfully meet their needs, you may have just identified a component of your personal brand. Use positive reinforcement as a motive to offer your assistance to another person in need and see if you leave a similar impact on them as you did previously for your friend or colleague. If so, lean into your competence and empower your authenticity.

Empower Your Authenticity

Your personal brand needs to be authentic and deliberate to maintain a competitive advantage in any job market— candidate-driven or employer-driven. Values (such as integrity, empathy, or humility) altogether influence your authenticity. You empower your authenticity by staying true to these values. After all, recruiters and hiring managers are typically conscious of candidates who lack self-awareness.

Additionally, keep in mind that your personal brand can and likely will change over time as you gain new wisdom. You should set goals for yourself throughout your journey. For example, if your goal is to receive a job offer that aligns with your personal brand, you must be realistic about the timeline and what actions will help you achieve your goal. Considering the average interview process takes 8 weeks, your timeline to receive a job offer should be relative to that. Actions to take may be updating your resume, identifying your transferable skills, applying for roles with companies looking to diversify their workplace, and most importantly a place where you can feel comfortable being your most authentic and true self.

Make Your Personal Brand Memorable

Your personal brand needs to be memorable for recruiters and hiring managers to keep you top of mind. While there are many platforms to choose from, Jopwell specializes in representing and advancing careers for Black, Latinx, and Native American students and professionals. Jopwell does so by partnering with companies of all sizes and in a variety of industries to build more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces. Some of these partners include but are not limited to Google, Johnson & Johnson, T. Rowe Price, Visa, Deloitte, and Goldman Sachs.

Create a profile with Jopwell to access job opportunities, content, and events. The further you promote your personal brand, network with others, and lead with a growth mindset, you will have a better chance at making your personal brand memorable for everyone you interact with. Upon setting up your profile, your Profile Strength should be flagged as Expert to get the best experience! Here is a sample of an Expert profile.

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In summary, identifying your personal brand, empowering your authenticity, and making your personal brand memorable are necessary to developing a competitive edge in this job market. Your personal brand is more than what you bring to the table— it also involves how others perceive you and what you do to strengthen the relationships you have or want to have.

Jopwell helps America's leading companies connect with and recruit Black, Latinx, and Native American professionals and students at scale. Sign up to find your dream job.