Brand Your Resume with Distinction and Soar
Your personal brand is your image, reputation, and distinction. A branded resume is a dossier that is unmistakably marked with superiority and distinction from start to finish.
When your personal brand is knitted into a cohesive message and woven throughout your resume, it summarizes your (UVP) unique value proposition and conveys differentiating qualifications– transforming your resume into a memorable, action-provoking marketing tool.
When you define your brand and package your resume well– not any one can fit that resume. It is a unique document, narrating your career story: how you have progressed through your career, faced, and overcame challenges. In this highly competitive job-search market, a personal brand is instrumental. It will empower you to outdistance those vying for the same career opportunities you desire.
Through resume branding your career accolades become more than a summation of your accountabilities. By branding your resume you are accentuating how you– and only you– can deliver results with the highest ROI. The branded resume showcases how you go about delivering the results employers seek and, perhaps, even promises results employers had no idea they could reap from employing the BEST person in that particular position.
Resume Branding Example: In working with a careerist, we discovered that this executive was always at the cusp of leading technology strategy and operations. He repeatedly found that employers needed him to bridge that gap and assume an executive role midway that of a COO and that of a CIO. In each one of his employments, he was able to connect the strategic with the tactical needs of an organization. Through his holistic view he enabled organizations to integrate IT plans that would align with operational needs by serving as a trusted advisor to both the COO and CIO, regardless his official title.
Therefore, my client’s branding statement drove home the following message: “Answering the call of technology evolution by serving as the missing link between the COO and CIO.”
It is important to reiterate that you must also brand the rest of the resume. This above tag line served as a compass through the resume development process. My client could have simply chosen to promote his competence as a COO or a CIO never making that “missing link” connection. Instead, we handpicked select achievements and stories that would support our differentiating value offer. We designed the resume to reinforce that image we wanted to convey. Remember that branding a resume must be a complete package: visually pleasing, content compelling, and addressing the needs of target employers. The choice to brand his resume paid off!
What we can learn from the example above is that when you brand a resume your resume will market a clear and authentic message that connects with employers’ needs and promises ROI, elevating your candidacy above qualifications and compelling employers to call you for an interview.
Visit this page for more examples of branded resumes
Here are a few questions you can work on to mine for your personal brand:
What positions do I continuously find myself in throughout my career?
What is a common thread in my career story?
How do I go about delivering results that is unlike what I normally see from someone in my role?
What do companies need from me every time they have hired me?
What has been my legacy every time I have ended a tenure with a company?
What do others say about me?
What do I pride myself in doing?
Others count on me to always ____?
Once you have the answer to these questions, clearly communicate your value offline and across online networks ensuring your message is consistent and appealing to employers.
Rosa Elizabeth Vargas
Executive Resume Service: www.careersteering.com
Professional Resume Service: www.creatingprints.com
