Career branding can help you stand out
With the nation's unemployment rate at a 26 -year high, the job market is obviously competitive. But there are ways to help you stand out from other applicants: branding.
Posted — UpdatedAmong her students is Diane Clark, an executive assistant, who was laid off after 13 years.
Another student, former sales manager Manuel Zepeda, has been unemployed for two months.
“I want to learn how to sell myself,” she said.
But Castrodale says before the students can sell themselves, they must brand themselves.
“It sounds cheesy, but she said, 'Everybody called her the energizer bunny at work.' But she had a great story to back it up, why she was scripted as the energizer bunny. Right, wrong, or indifferent, guess who I'm going to remember?” Castrodale said.
Castrodale also says a background story is just as important.
“I don't need to know how many phone calls you needed to make, how many contacts, (or) how many letters you wrote. I don't need to now all the details. I quickly need to know the situation because what I'm listening for is the outcome. But the story again needs to back up the brand, the person that you say that you are,” Castrodale said.
Castrodale says everyone has a story to tell.
“The competition is so fierce, so fierce out there with so many people unemployed. I'm trying to find just that one little piece that might make me stand out,” Clark said.
Castrodale says standing out is what it is all about.
“I am hiring skills and talents. But I'm a person. And I'm hiring a person. And so at the end of the day, I want to hire somebody I like. That I'm going to have a good time working with,” Castrodale said.
Castrodale also wants to point out that most people who get hired know someone in the organization, or have some sort of a connection. So even when you are just meeting new people, she says it is important to share your personal brand and make yourself memorable.
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