Did you know that 80 percent of job openings are never advertised? Or that the average number of people who apply for any given job is 118? And only 20 percent of applicants ever get an interview? Today’s job marketplace is like auditioning for American Idol; lots of job seekers with talent and skills, but only a few are truly memorable. So how can job seekers stand out from the crowd and get invited to the job audition—the interview? Personal Websites are a key differentiator in today’s job search. They enable candidates to break through the clutter by establishing a brand presence that celebrates their potential and ultimate value to an employer. At the same time, they help employers and recruiters get a better sense of an applicant’s strengths and experience.
Right Management, the talent and career management experts within ManpowerGroup, believes so strongly in personal Websites that we established an exclusive industry partnership with Workfolio, a leader in personal branding Websites, to offer personal Website technology to the thousands of candidates we help transition to new employment through our Career Management solutions. This offering blends together Workfolio’s personal Website technology with Right Management’s expertise in helping people develop their careers through coaching and training.
Hiring managers and recruiters increasingly are turning to personal Websites and cyber-vetting to identify candidates for open positions. Recent research from Workfolio showed that 56 percent of hiring managers cited personal Websites as the most impressive tool candidates can have to support their job search. In addition, employers spend more time on a personal Website than they do reading a resume or even reviewing social media sites such as LinkedIn for a particular candidate.
“Personal Websites are setting a new standard for the job search process, and soon will be as universal as resumes and CVs,” believes Workfolio CEO and Founder Charles Pooley.
“Workfolio makes it easy to set up a personal Website, but the real work comes in the career coaching and training that helps candidates tell the story they want to tell on their Websites and in the interview,” adds Sharon Salling, Right Management vice president. “It’s the combination of technology and career coaching that make the real difference in landing that next employment opportunity. A personal Website is an important vehicle for getting noticed, but a personal brand is the essential foundation for showcasing value to a potential employer.”
Creating a Personal Brand
Personal branding has become a key element of successful career management. Today’s job marketplace is crowded with competent professionals who all have talents and expertise. To land a rewarding career opportunity, job seekers must rethink their approach by focusing on those unique skills and attributes that differentiate them. Conducting a career search today is no different from a corporation launching a successful product; it requires building a genuine brand image that delivers clear value and leads to a positive response.
Helping job seekers establish a personal brand takes attention, perspective, and the ability to recognize unique characteristics that create a lasting, positive impression.
Here are the steps we recommend coaches and trainers take when advising individuals on personal branding:
- Discover your personal brand. Ask colleagues, clients, friends, and anyone who knows you well. What are your most distinctive characteristics? What makes up the essence of you? Listen for themes, consistent strengths, and overlap in what you hear. What strengths are singled out by others?
- Develop your brand. Craft your own story in a short expression of who you are. Think of this as your elevator pitch for your career. You should be able to summarize your career in about a minute.
- Communicate your brand. Create a marketing plan to reach your target audience. Once you’ve established your brand, communicate it clearly and consistently in all that you do professionally. Use language that reflects your brand in your resume, your business card, your LinkedIn profile, on your personal Website, and your email signature, and highlight your key brand attributes when networking and interviewing.
- Live your brand in all you do. Refining and communicating your brand will be an ongoing process throughout your career because your brand is enhanced with each new experience and skill you develop. Your brand and network needs to be nurtured, so continue to update and leverage social media and your personal Website.
Personal branding is ongoing and does not stop after the job offer. Career paths are no longer “one job, one firm, for life,” and employers must recognize the benefit of allowing employees to continue developing and marketing their personal brands. One key benefit for organizations that allow employees to do so is the possibility to attract the employee’s network as potential employees, clients, or influential contacts.
As online information becomes more and more important, personal Websites will become the norm. Training individuals to create an online presence that they own and maintain themselves will allow them to be ahead of the curve when others are rushing to catch up with this trend. Personal Websites provide the opportunity for a job seeker to stand out, create differentiation, communicate personal value, and reinforce personal branding. Most of all, a personal Website makes candidates memorable to an employer—the ultimate audition judge.
Margaret Ann Cole is a senior vice president at Right Management, the talent and career management experts within ManpowerGroup.
