If you’re looking for a job, it’s important to have a personal brand. Recruiters and human resources departments can receive hundreds of resumes for every job opening. The more you stand out from the crowd, the more it can help your resume be noticed.

In addition, recruiters increasingly look on social media channels like LinkedIn to find candidates. They also use LinkedIn to find out more information on candidates whose resumes they’ve received. In both cases, displaying your personal brand on LinkedIn can help you find a position.

First, though, let’s discuss what a personal brand is. We’re all familiar with company branding. Coca Cola and Pepsi may be alike in being sodas that are easily found on supermarket shelves, but each goes to great lengths to demarcate their brand from the other. They associate with different events (the 2018 Olympics, for Coke; the Superbowl, in many years, for Pepsi).

Personal branding, like corporate branding, focuses on the qualities that demarcate you from your competition. It gives you a personal identity apart from the resume. But it also does highlight your strengths, experience, and accomplishments.


How do you build a personal brand? Follow these two tips.

1. Develop your job-related identity on LinkedIn

In case you’re wondering whether you have to sponsor a Superbowl-like event, the answer is no! The primary method of building a personal brand is to use social media channels. The primary social media channel for jobs is LinkedIn.

Develop your LinkedIn header to reflect your personal brand.

First, think hard about what your personal brand includes for business purposes. It needn’t be complicated, but it does need to be something that resonates with recruiters. If you work in informational technology, for example, you might develop a LinkedIn header that says “Responsible IT. Done Right.”

Second, connect with people in the field you have worked with or know. Recruiters will be drawn by your network.

Third, ask for testimonials from people who know your work and can testify to its high quality. Display these on LinkedIn. They are the equivalent of references on your resume, but recruiters can access them without having your resume.

Fourth, display your accomplishments. It’s a good idea to have an abbreviated resume on LinkedIn, of course, which are evidence of your accomplishments on the job. But make sure that you publicize new accomplishments. If you receive a promotion, tell your network! If you’re chosen to present at an industry conference, ditto.

Finally, share selected personal information on LinkedIn. Determine what personal information you’d like to make part of your personal brand. It should be authentic, but also serve to highlight strengths that relate to a job or make you a good potential co-worker. That can be anything from playing in a community volleyball league to volunteering in a fundraising drive to bungee jumping on vacation.

2. Align your brand across social media channels


Once you’ve built your personal brand on LinkedIn, you need to align other social media channels with your brand. You need to be on several social media channels to have a vibrant brand, and keep them active. Choose from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat.

Delete material that doesn’t conform to your personal brand. If you’re a responsible IT professional, for example, remove pictures of college drinking, if they exist. When you share your accomplishments on LinkedIn, share them across your channels.

Similarly, if you’ve recently bungee jumped in Hawaii and the interest is on your LI profile, share a picture across Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. It separates you from the competition in the eyes of recruiters.

Building your personal brand is very important in a job search. It highlights you to potential recruiters and makes you memorable. Contact a staffing professional at Nesco Resource to learn more about building your personal brand or find a new career today.