Personal Branding the Concert Pianist Way

Most of us have heard so often that it’s important to have a personal brand that we’re sick of it. The overuse of the term is beginning to devalue it. I’m not a box of cereal; I’m a human being, you might say.

That is true. And it is increasingly difficult to find a differentiator as the competition for jobs and consulting assignments is so fierce. Maybe it’s because we’re looking at ourselves as a business. We’re using dull and dry terms to describe ourselves: team player, proven track record, top producer. They don’t exactly leap out and grab someone by the throat.

But a review in The New York Times last week of two young pianists got me thinking that we should be looking at it in a different way. The Times music critic began: “Many young classical musicians feel pressure to stand out.” Well, who doesn’t? It’s not just pianists; everyone in this tough economic climate is looking to stand out. But it was another sentence that really got my attention: “It is not enough to play an instrument – or sing or conduct – brilliantly. You have to search within yourself and define your artistic identity. Your performances should convey what you believe in, what excites you.”..

A Personal Branding Roadmap That Just May Work

We’ve been thinking a lot about “personal branding” here at Recessionwire. In an economy where there are more people looking than jobs—and it’s expected to stay that way for years, if forever—we’ve all got to take things into our own hands a bit more. Do what we can to stand out, and create a roadmap and profile for the careers we want. “Personal branding” is a big part of that.

Of course, it’s something that seems to make more sense for those who have a track record to shape into a story behind a personal brand. But even college students and grads should be thinking about how to position themselves and create their own platform, whether it’s to get a full-time job or chart an alternative path through starting a business or consulting or freelance work.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is doing a good job of addressing this issue, with a program called “Personal Branding Week.” It’s online and it’s free. There are instructive tips and accompanying worksheets that are really quite brilliant. But even though PwC says it’s focusing on students and grads, everyone should spend some time going through this process…

Beefing Up a Thin Resume

When you’re short on experience, play up your strengths.

The Problem: Recession or not, you’re job hunting. Trouble is, aside from some internships and a few part-time gigs, the work experience section of your resume is, well, thin. You know that you could nail a job if given the chance – but with the national unemployment rate hovering around 10%, how to get a foot in the door with so little to go on?

The Solution: A resume redo. The key is highlighting your accomplishments, regardless of how you got them. Definitely include when you graduated and whatever positions you’ve held since – employers want to see that. But, also list volunteer organizations, student clubs, sports teams, or any group in which you’ve held a leadership position or made an impact. Detail projects completed, funds raised or other positive outcomes; you want to point to anything that shows your capabilities, especially if…

What Do You Know about the Brand ‘You’?

Personal branding is essential, whether you are just starting out in your first job, or moving up a rung on the career ladder. It’s something you need to work on so when you ask yourself the question, “Who am I?” you’ll know the answer and be able to communicate it clearly and concisely.

Some people confuse their personal brand with their “elevator speech.” The term “elevator speech” trivializes an important process that will help you understand exactly what makes you stand out from the crowd.

Your brand influences how important internal and external audiences, including your boss, your customers and prospects perceive you and what they think you have to offer them. Another way of understanding branding is that it’s the words you would want people to use in describing you.

Branding is what sets you apart from your competition. Let’s look at the brands of some famous companies and people. FedEx, for example, is positioned as the company that you can rely on to deliver your package by 10:30 tomorrow morning. Absolutely, positively. Google is the leader in search, and continues to be. The advent of new competition has hardly made a dent in its market share….

How to Get to Brand You

You know the score. It’s all about personal branding these days. You know what to do: the blog, the Twitter account, the Facebook page, the … you know, the branding stuff. You need a job, and to get it, or that fat yet elusive raise and promotion, you have to distinguish yourself. With branding.

Hold the phone, there, sweet pea. Before you go all Seth Godin on us, take a moment’s pause. Just a moment – well, OK, I lied, more like several moments. And get clear on just what kind of brand you’re communicating to those prospective and current Powers That Be.

What the Heck Is a Personal Brand Anyway?

A lot of folks are writing about personal branding without a clear understanding of what that is. So let’s clarify our terms first.

A personal brand is not just the way you present yourself. It’s not merely your self-image. It’s that, and a promise you make to others – a promise that you’ll deliver on that image. That you’ve got the goods to back it up. In short, your personal brand is an assurance that your ego isn’t writing checks your skill level and experience can’t cash…

Create a Personal Branding Statement

Whether you get to a hiring manager by referral, through a recruiter or a job board, today’s candidate needs to make a distinctive impression quickly. The traditional resume form does a poor job of quickly, clearly, and succinctly telling the reader why they should spend more time on this resume.

Since the average time spent reviewing a resume is 15 seconds or less, a job seeker needs to quickly convince the reader to stick around. A well crafted personal branding statement tells the hiring manager three extremely important things in a well crafted, concise single line. The following questions and explanations will help you craft the right statement for you:

What does the candidate want?

In a Fishing resume the candidate has to give a generic title, but can make it specific for a response resume. It should be a single title, rather than a range, or something so broad as just Executive, or manager. Listing an industry specialization can help make it more specific…