Jennifer McClure`

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Written by Jennifer McClure

Why Personal Branding Is Important for Career Development in HR – #NextChat

Personal Branding. The phrase that doesn’t want to die.

Personal Branding and Human Resources. Not like peanut butter and chocolate. Or is it?.

We can blame Tom Peters for starting the whole personal branding thing way back in 1997 with his article – “The Brand Called You” in Fast Company Magazine – , but the phrase really came into its own in the latter part of the last decade as technology and social media provided everyone from underdogs to big dogs the opportunity to better manage their careers, get noticed and reach a global audience if desired.

One of the first talks that I gave as a “professional” Speaker way back in 2007 was at a women’s professional networking group on the topic of “Personal Branding For Career Success” – and I’ll be delivering a 1/2 day workshop on the same topic this weekend for MBA students at Xavier University. The concept of defining and developing your Personal Brand remains an important topic for career management. And if you’re working in Human Resources, that goes for you and your professional counterparts too! Even if you don’t want to think so.

To understand more about how the concepts of Personal Branding can help you as an HR Pro, I’d like to invite you to join me and the good folks from SHRM | We Know Next today, September 12th, at 3pm ET for a “Twitter chat” about Personal Branding and why it’s important for HR pros. You can participate in, or follow the “chat” on Twitter  via the hashtag – #Nextchat. (New to Twitter chats? Learn more here – How to Participate in a Twitter Chat.)

Have questions? We’ll attempt to answer them. Have input or expertise? I’d love to hear from you. Think this Personal Branding thing is the greatest thing since sliced bread – or a bunch of hooey? I definitely want you to share your thoughts!

—–

For more details on tomorrow’s #Nextchat, check out the SHRM – We Know Next blog – Nextchat: “Why Personal Branding Is Important for Career Development in HR” – September 12, 2012 @ 3pm ET

If someone were to ask you to write down what you believe your “personal brand” is today, what would you write?  Are you excited about it?  Does it really describe your character, personality and passions?

In today’s competitive labor market, building a personal brand with a strong online presence is critical to your career, so it’s important to prioritize and identify ways to get noticed inside and outside of the office. There is tremendous value in personal branding and in the concepts of understanding who you are and being able to communicate your value, as well as to articulate what differentiates you from others in your field.

Whether you know it or not, people have a perception of you — and you need to take control of that.

Join us at 3 p.m on 9/12 for #Nextchat with Jennifer McClure of Unbridled Talent.  We’ll discuss the ways a busy HR pro can accomplish building their Personal Brand.

Q1. Why is personal branding so important for career development in HR?

Q2. How can HR pros use social media to help create and promote their personal brand?

Q3. Is face to face networking still important to creating a personal brand? Why?/why not?

Q4. What are the best ways that busy HR pros can develop a personal brand with limited time and on a limited budget?

Q5. How can developing a personal brand aid your career as an HR pro?

Categories: Blog, Human Resources, Personal Branding
Posted on September 12, 2012

Written by Jennifer McClure

Personal Branding For Career Growth & Success [Presentation]

Last week, I once again had the privilege of speaking to a group of over 50 women who have been selected for the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber’s WE Lead Program. This was the 3rd year in a row that I’ve had the opportunity to share with the participants in this 10 month leadership development program about the importance of Personal Branding in today’s competitive employment environment.

It’s always a pleasure to spend time with highly talented women with such high potential and I really enjoy the conversation and feedback that happens as a result!

In my “Personal Branding for Career Success” session, the participants are initially asked to write a few words or statements describing what they believe their Personal Brand is today, as well as what they’d like for it to be (assuming that is different). Then, we work as a group to get that message into a a succinct Personal Brand Statement for each individual that they can utilize as a base for building a strong online presence, focusing their career activities and even prioritizing and identifying ways to get noticed within and outside of work.

I’ve included the presentation deck from last week’s presentation below.

Personal Branding for Career Growth – Feb 2012
View more presentations from Jennifer McClure
Personally, I’m a bit over the term “personal branding”, but I do still see tremendous value in the concepts of understanding who you are and being able to communicate your value, as well as to articulate what differentiates you from others in your field. Clearly, many of the participants did as well, as evidenced by some of their comments:
“This was a fascinating topic. Hadn’t thought a lot about doing personal branding, but see how it fits with career and work. She was very organized with presentation, handouts, small group activity and content was great.”
“Excellent, but I left feeling somewhat inadequate. Time to get to work!”
“Helped to spend some time reworking my personal brand statement. She knows her stuff.”
“So helpful! Lots of steps to take to claim my brand.”
“People do have a perception of me. I need to take control of that.”
“Branding session impressed on me the importance of keeping social media tools updated.”
“Thanks so much for sharing your expertise with our WE Lead class yesterday! Your presentation is always one of the best-received of the entire program and that was true again this year. Clearly the information you share resonates with the group and it motivates them to take action. Please know how much we appreciate your contribution to WE Lead and hope you take pride in the lasting impact you are making for these women. – Diana Long, Program Manager Women Excel
What’s your take on the topic of Personal Branding? Love it? Hate it? Think it’s more important than ever to have one?

Categories: Blog, Personal Branding, Presentations
Posted on February 15, 2012

Written by Jennifer McClure

Personal Branding and Women Leaders

Today, I had the privilege of speaking about Personal Branding to the 50+ participants in the 2009/2010 class of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber's Leadership Development Program for Women – – WE Lead. It was an honor to be able to spend some time with some of Cincinnati's leading women and to talk with them about the importance of having a "personal brand" to better manage their careers and attract business opportunities. 

During the presentation, I shared how my own personal brand has evolved over the last few years and is currently "under construction" (see my last post) as I prepare to take this itty bitty world by storm in 2010. Stay tuned…

An embed of the presentation is included below (email subscribers click through to view):

Your Personal Brand

View more presentations from Jennifer McClure.

Resources shared with participants:

10 Steps to Uncovering and Building Your Authentic Personal Brand by Meg Guiseppi

Books:

* Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand by William Arruda & Kirsten Dixon

    – Free downloadable workbook

    – 360°Reach™ – Personal Brand Assessment (with book purchase)

* Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton

    – Take Gallup’s StrengthsFinder.com profile online (with code from book purchase)

e-Book:

* Free e-book on Personal Branding by Chris Brogan

Assessments:

* What’s The Value of your Personal Brand Quiz

* Online Identity Calculator

Recommended Blogs:

* Personal Branding Blog

* Executive Career Brand

Google Alerts:

* http://www.google.com/alerts

******

Personal Branding was all the rage a couple of years ago, but the
hoopla seems to have faded a bit recently.

While it may be called something different in the future, I think it will always be important to define who you are, what you do, who you do it for and the
value you offer. Doing so helps you to focus your efforts and target opportunities and also allows you to engage your network to assist you in getting what you want.

What do you think about having a Personal Brand? Is it still necessary? Or is the concept so 2000 and late?

Categories: Blog, Personal Branding, Presentations
Posted on February 3, 2010

Written by Jennifer McClure

Searching For a Job? Don’t Call a Recruiter – Think Like a Recruiter

Jobsearchnewspaper If you’re currently searching for a job, I can relate to you in many ways. I’ve been a job seeker, a hiring manager who’s interviewed candidates, and now I’m a Recruiter and active networker who interacts with people at all stages of career transition on a daily basis.

In my current role, I come in contact with many job seekers who believe (or hope) that the answer to their current situation is to contact a Recruiter and turn over their job search to them. They need a job – and the Recruiter needs to place someone in a job in order to make money.

Sounds like a win-win for both right?

Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works with most Recruiters, and my concern is that many end up frustrated with us because we aren’t finding them a job, or they don’t feel that we’re interested in helping them.

The straight scoop is that it’s highly unlikely a Recruiter will personally take on your job search, provide you with contacts that are hiring, make calls for you, or (shocker) even place you in your next job.

Typically, individuals placed by Recruiters are identified in one of two ways. They’re either found out of the blue (cold-called) by a Recruiter searching for someone that specifically matches their skills and experience, or they were top of mind for a Recruiter when an opportunity came along (specifically matching their skills and experience) because they had developed a relationship with the Recruiter through regular interaction and/or providing referrals in the past.

While that may be disappointing to hear for those new to the job hunt, it’s true.

The reality in today’s economy is that most Recruiters are very much in the same boat as job seekers right now. If jobs are harder to come by, so are “job orders”, and the majority of a Recruiter’s time and energy is devoted to developing new business.

So what’s a job seeker to do if Recruiters aren’t the answer?

My best advice to you – if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Make like a Recruiter, become your own Headhunter, and create opportunities for yourself by doing the following:

1. You must get out and network.

You knew this would be number one right? The simple truth is that there’s no way to get around it. And it will take time. No one magically hands over new clients to Recruiters – they have to actively seek them out and find them.

In my case, in addition to working with current clients, I spend a good portion of every day in some sort of networking or relationship building activity (i.e. business development). I attend networking and professional association meetings, make regular phone calls, schedule meetings with key relationships to keep in touch, etc. etc.

As a job seeker, you MUST be actively networking to secure your next job. In fact – networking IS your current job!

2. Focus on helping others.

Take advantage of every opportunity to connect or help other people where it makes sense.

As a Recruiter, I’m always on the lookout for ways to provide referrals or to connect my clients and relationships to people or resources that can help them.

By adding value to our relationship and helping them with their needs, they typically also want to help me. (Note: 100% of my current clients were referrals from someone that I helped at some point and expected nothing in return.) Those in career transition who do this well tend to land sooner and develop armies of people interested in helping them.

Call it Career Karma, Givers Gain, or whatever fits, but it works and I see it in action all of the time.

3. Develop and communicate your “Brand” effectively. 

Just as there are an overwhelming number of people out there today searching for jobs, the competition among Recruiters is fierce to secure clients and opportunities. As a result, each of us must work to distinguish ourselves from the pack. I personally do this by ensuring that my key relationships know what I do (Executive Recruiting, Executive Coaching, Consulting, Speaking/Training) and the types of people that are most beneficial for me to connect with (decision-makers, business owners and C-level executives).

Unfortunately, many frustrated job seekers are branding themselves this way – “I’m open to any opportunity where I can utilize the many skills I have in any industry”. This type of statement does nothing to make them memorable and unfortunately gives the people that they interact with no idea (or initiative) to help them or refer them.

4. Research companies and opportunities to “position yourself to be lucky”.

Recruiters must have a hand on the pulse of what’s going on at all times in the industries and communities where their target clients are. Many an opportunity is uncovered by reading newspapers and industry or professional publications and keeping an ear to the ground.

Recruiters read between the lines of growth, restructuring, new hire, promotion and even layoff announcements and rumors to identify opportunities. We then tap into our networks to connect with the right individuals in these companies to explore how we can add value. Job seekers who do the same thing often identify un-posted or not-yet-created opportunities for themselves as well.

“Luck” typically happens to those who have placed themselves in a position to be successful.

For the record, I truly wish I could help each and every person that reaches out to me to find the perfect job. Also for the record, finding jobs for people is not what I (or other Recruiters) do. It’s actually the opposite – I find specific people for specific leadership and key individual contributor roles at my client companies (who are the ones who pay for my services).

The good news is that you – the job seeker – can employ the exact same tactics that I (and other Recruiters) use to develop new business towards developing your next great career opportunity.

Now, let’s go get ’em!

Categories: Blog, Job Search, Networking, Personal Branding, Recruiting
Posted on February 11, 2009

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  • My Best Career Advice to Position Yourself for the Job You Want [Replay]
  • 4 Steps to Building a Business Case That Will Get Your Proposals Approved
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