Managing Your Personal Brand During a Job Search

By Michelle Stute

You've edited your resume to perfection and you're ready to start applying for jobs, right? Whoa, wait just a minute - if you think of your job search as a marketing campaign, you'll see that there are many other communication "touches," besides your resume, that create your personal brand. And you'd better be actively managing your brand if you want to put your best foot forward during a job search, especially in this job market.

Top Tips for Managing Your Personal Brand during a Job Search

Use a professional email address

Be sure that the email address you are listing on your resume and for communications with potential employers is professional and contains some combination of your first and last names. It should not be cutesy or personal in any way nor too revealing about your hobbies (e.g., catlady@ or surferguy@). Check out our Email Cover Letter Tips article for more on this subject.

Update your voicemail greetings

Have you listened to your voicemail greeting lately? Are you one of those people who haven't actually set up their voicemail greeting so callers are greeted with an automated message? Or do you have your favorite song playing for 15 seconds before you speak? Be sure to update your voicemail greeting on your home and cell phones during a job search with your very own human voice. Keep it short, simple and upbeat. I recommend playing your greeting for a friend or significant other you trust to make sure your tone is friendly and professional.

Be aware of your online image

Employers are increasingly using the internet to see what information they can find on potential employees to aid them in their hiring decisions. You should expect that sooner or later, a hiring manager will "Google" you, so it's very important to be aware of your online image. Start by searching for yourself by entering "Your Name" in quotation marks on Google (you may need to add some additional search criteria if you have a common name). Once you know how you appear in the search engine results pages, you can go about cleaning up any profiles - or deleting risque photos from last year's company holiday party - that don't present you in the best light. Here are some additional tips to help you manage your online image:

• LinkedIn - If you have a LinkedIn account, make sure your profile is up-to-date and ask some of your colleagues to contribute recommendations to your LinkedIn profile. Here's a link to an article on Forbes.com with some good tips on making the most of your LinkedIn profile.
• Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites - Familiarize yourself with the privacy settings for all of the social networking accounts you've set up, and remember to watch your language and mind your manners on these sites, especially when you're in the midst of a job search.
• Google Alerts - You can create Google Alerts to update you via email of the latest Google results for any search query. Use Google Alerts to be alerted when your name appears in Google results, or to be alerted to the latest news about a company or firm you're targeting as a potential employer.

Keep your references in the loop

Maintain regular contact with your professional references during your job search to keep them apprised of where you're interviewing and who may be contacting them. The more your references know about the positions you're being considered for, the better they can tailor their responses to questions from a potential employer to emphasize your skills and abilities. Plus, in keeping your references in the loop, you may find out that one of them knows someone at one of the firms you're applying to.

Invest in some personal business cards

You never know when or where you're going to meet someone who will turn out to be a great career connection. A personal business card that includes your name, personal email address, and mobile number is a good thing to have just in case an opportunity presents itself. Business cards are so easy and inexpensive to create online these days and can be ordered in small quantities, so why not keep some handy?

Bottom line: be prepared for each potential interaction with an employer during your job search, and take action to manage your image and sell yourself. Happy hunting!

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