Personal Branding – a Case in Point

A few days ago I wrote about VisualCV and had a response from a reader about their success in putting their resume on the web. Since this is such a great example of personal branding, I thought I’d ask her permission to share it with you. By the way, personal branding is a relatively recent concept whereby people now brand their name and their careers. It can start with your resume and go beyond to inhabit the web and the blogosphere. Obviously, the bigger the name, the bigger the brand, but we don’t have to be Donald Trump or Cher to take advantage.  We do have to decide just who we are and then put ourselves out there. With all the web resources we have today, anybody can do this.

Here is a real life example of what just one person is doing. Cynthia O’Connell (try Googling her name) has her CV on the web through a LinkedIn page. You can do this, too. Or, you can also use a site like VisualCV (it’s free).

When she applies for a position, she sends a cover letter, standard resume, business card and she invites the potential employer to visit her web site. She’s also on Facebook.

Here’s another hint from Cynthia:

I would also recommend to all business people that they buy their dot com name even if they don’t have a website or a looking for work. As many employer’s today conduct web searches on potential job candidates.

Which is good advice.  With more and more employers getting into to social media thing, googling has become more prevalent among recruiters and some employers. Once again, this is all part of the personal branding strategy.

What are the results so far?

Cynthia has received very positive feedback and presently she is in the final stages for two interesting jobs.

For a good discussion on personal branding. Check out Dan Schawbel’s personal branding blog.

Joe