Career & Life Coaching

Before you can learn much about how to use personal branding for a competitive edge, it’s important to have an understanding of what personal branding is. Fortunately, it’s possible to take a look at the way many successful people have used personal branding to get a feel for what it is and how it can work for you.

Personal branding is something that has been done by a number of well known people. Some of the most well known among them are:

* Oprah Winfrey. Think what you will about Oprah’s personality, but from the time that she branded her show with her own name and aired a number of her personal struggles in a public way to the time that she launched her magazine, her book club and the talk show careers of Dr. Phil and Rachael Ray, Oprah has remained true to her personal brand.

* Donald Trump. Donald Trump isn’t just a real estate mogul, he’s also a man who worked hard, made his way to the top and then, time and time again, has found ways of staying there. Trump hotels have a certain reputation; so do his investment strategies that are available to almost everyone who watches his infomercials and has an internet connection, and, of course, The Apprentice also has a large audience simply because of all that the man has done to establish his personal brand.

In addition to Oprah and “The Donald”, there are a variety of others who have built their identities and empires on a foundation of personal branding. From Madonna to Bill Gates, from Rachael Ray (who established her brand by promising to teach others to prepare meals in 30 minutes and helping everyone to recognize that cooking is something that everyone can do) to Richard Branson, personal branding has proven to be a successful strategy – one that can also help you to get a competitive edge during your job search.

The reason that personal branding is so valuable is that it demands self-awareness; in order to have a brand, you need to be sure that you are able to know who you are and what you believe in. Likewise, personal branding means knowing what you value and making a commitment to bring it into everything that you do. Most importantly however, personal branding is about having the courage to be yourself – and to let others know who you are – and the confidence to believe that you can have a positive impact.

Personal branding is something that will give you a competitive edge during your job search because it will help you to appear confident and strong; it also is effective because prospective employers will see that you are committed to achieving your best and delivering consistent results. When you take advantage of personal branding and have the strength to market yourself and your values, you will find that you are able to have more than just a job – you’ll find that you are well on your way to creating an exceptional career and reaching your goals.

When you’re looking for a great opportunity – a chance to advance yourself within your field or a chance to find a completely different position over the course of your job search – one thing is certain: when you have goals for your job search, you are going to want to be sure that you are able to achieve them. Unfortunately, there are a number of things that most people do while they are in the midst of a job search that sabotage themselves.

There are a number of things that you can be doing that will sabotage your job search. Fortunately, when you understand what to do and what not to do, you’ll be able to smooth out the process of searching for a job – and, ultimately, land the job that you’ve always wanted to have.

The first thing that you need to do in order to avoid sabotaging your job search is to have an action plan. When you have an action plan for your job search, you’ll find that you are able to know what you’re going to do each day, to know when to send out your resumes and even when the right time is to follow up on those resumes and after interviews.

The next thing that you are going to need to do in order to avoid sabotaging your job search is to recognize that the job market changes over time. If it’s been a long while since you last went through a job search, chances are good that you won’t be familiar with the ways in which many companies take advantage of the online application process or of where you can search online for a job that will be great for you.

Of course, without clear career goals and a career focus, chances are good that you won’t be focusing your job search as well as you otherwise could. Without a clear focus, the chances that you will apply for positions that don’t match your skills or qualifications increase – and that can sabotage your job search. Likewise, you’ll find that when you are not focused on reaching career goals your resume will not perform as well and you will be less prepared for questions that come up during the interview process.

Simply by taking the time to know what types of jobs you want to apply for – which jobs will help you to reach your career goals – you will find that you are likely to have a more successful job search. When you know what you are working to find, you will be in a far better position to be prepared and to find it.

A job search can be frustrating – especially when you find that you are sabotaging yourself every step of the way. By taking the time to get a clear look at the picture, by focusing on your goals and what it is going to take to achieve those goals, you will find that a job search can go smoothly and land you right where you want to be.

Often, when it comes to job loss, it feels as though there is no immediate next step: once your desk is packed up, there’s little to do other than to go through the grieving process. Job loss, just like any loss that you will experience, means going through the process of shock and denial, anger, depression, acceptance and – finally – growth. While you don’t want to stay and wallow in the shock, denial, frustration or sadness that you’ll experience after a job loss, what you will find is that through acceptance and the chance to reflect, you’re in a prime position to grow.

As they say, whenever one thing ends, something new begins. When your employment ends with job loss, you’ll find that the next step is to really explore what’s important to you. After all, if you’ve lost a job, chances are good that it was not a position that was a good match for you. By taking the time to reflect on the position and on yourself, you’ll find that it’s a lot easier to move onto the next steps.

After the job loss, you’re going to want to look at a number of different things:

1. Your skills. It’s important to look at your skills after you have experienced a job loss because you will be in a far better position to find a new job that is better suited to your skill set. Everyone has his or her own strengths and skills, after all, and, just because one job wasn’t right for you doesn’t mean that there isn’t a better job out there.

2. Your interests. When you’re getting past a job loss, one of the things that you’ll discover is that you have the opportunity to take a closer look at your interests. Even if the job that you lost had little to do with what you’re passionate about, you’ll find that you have the opportunity to look at those things now and to see what job opportunities are compatible with those interests.

3. Your dreams. If you have always dreamed of owning your own business, one of the options that you will have after a job loss is to use the time to explore your business ideas and to pursue getting the training that you need to turn those dreams into a reality. Likewise, if there is a business field that you have always wanted to be a part of, you’ll discover that a job loss helps to open those doors; it’s all a matter of believing in yourself and making an effort to make changes.

Ultimately, after a job loss, continuing to believe in yourself is one of the most important things that you can do. Part of taking care of yourself after a job loss is talking over your emotions and sense of things while trying to move beyond the job loss; another part is looking at the big picture and determining what your options are.

After a job loss, you will always have options: that’s one of the most important things to remember. Work your way through the grieving process, discover what truly matters to you and, in no time, you’ll see for yourself that an end is only a beginning.