Now, we are ready to create and continuously update our self-brand. This requires regularly updating and customizing the resume and other documents, as well as not being too abrupt in shifting one’s self-brand concept. This will be discussed in more detail later in the paper.
In communicating one’s self-brand, it is imperative that we seek out and listen to feedback from others and use LinkedIn and other networking groups.
What is the result of all of this planning and action? We should able to “work at jobs that best fit your evolving skill set and offer the most long-run potential to further enhance your brand.” For people to see if they are on the right track, they should take Bence’s (2008) personal branding quiz.
Differentiation/Positioning
As with corporate and product brands, the key to successful self-branding is to create and maintain a distinctive, believable, and desirable brand position from others in the career/job marketplace. Consider these observations by Arruda (2003, p. 58):
Businesses are in a constant state of [flux] in response to the changing demands of the market. Like a corporation, you need to differentiate yourself and build demand in your target markets. Personal branding is about understanding your unique combination of attributes–strengths, skills, values, and passions–and using those to differentiate yourself and guide your career decisions. Whether you’re a senior executive, the president of your own company, or a worker at a small organization, managing your brand is critical to achieving your professional goals.
The vocabulary that is used in self-branding is quite important in differentiating/positioning a self-brand. For example, Ulrich and Smallwood (2007) identify more than 110 positive attributes that can be used as self-descriptors, ranging from accepting to determined to insightful to quality-oriented to values-driven. In contrast, Haden (2014) cites 32 words that are often used incorrectly, which does not reflect well on us. These include affect and effect, compliment and complement, principal and principle, it’s and its, and you’re and your.
The focus of one’s self-branding also needs to be extremely clear. For example, you can brand yourself as an “eminent marketing scholar,” a topic studied by Noble, Bentley, Campbell, and Singh (2010, p. 324):
Are so-called “A”-level publications all that matter? The results here show powerfully that the common mantra to focus primarily on top-tier publications in the development of one’s career is well-founded. Top tier or “A”-level publications were not only significantly correlated with eminence but, when treated as a control variable, they removed most of the other significant individual influences considered. These effects of top tier publications on eminence were persistent even when controlling for the total number of publications.
Figure 4 shows an illustrative self-brand positioning map. It is based on just two criteria: level of experience and perceived expertise. In this instance, Candidate D is the obvious choice.