Your personal brand has a direct impact on your career because it is simply how people perceive you in your work. There are many ways you can develop or build your personal brand to help drive your power generation career, but the key is to focus on how you interact with people, wherever you interact with people. Here’s what you can do to start building your brand today.
Be Helpful
Being known as someone in the industry who is experienced and professional is critical but being known as someone who is helpful, and an active problem solver will help you stand out in a sea of qualified professionals. Be as helpful as you can with the people you work with, with people you interact with outside of your company, and in your community as well. You never know where a personal recommendation will come in handy in the power generation industry. So, make being helpful part of your day-to-day attitude and you’ll notice a big difference.
Clean Up Your Social Accounts and Web Presence
When was the last time your social profiles were updated? Are you on LinkedIn? Facebook? Twitter? Do you have fresh and relevant content posted regularly? How is your SEO? Making sure that these touchpoints are saying what you want them to say is a critical first step to building a solid brand online. Often old posts or comments can bury the good information and content that will help you stand out from a crowd of candidates. Make sure you know what people are seeing when they look you up on the web.
Engage with Online Communities
A big part of building your brand online is based on engaging with the online community. Set yourself up for success by establishing yourself as a thought leader and a teacher within the industry. Share high-quality content consistently and engage with groups (on Facebook or LinkedIn for example) to help people learn from that industry experience. By directly engaging with the people you are looking to influence, your reputation immediately benefits from that effort, so long as you remain open to feedback and maintain a respectful discourse with your audience. You never know who is in those groups reading your content. You could be speaking with a future employer and never even realize it.
Check Your References
Your references matter a lot when it comes to your job search. Do you have people who you have worked with closely in the past who can speak to the quality of your experience, your work effort, the impact you have had for other companies you’ve worked with? Your advocates are a key part of building your personal brand. Just like with companies who focus in on their brand marketing efforts, in a job search (and even in between job searches) you need to build your brand by influencing how people think of you. That means doing really good work. Ask for references. Be helpful everywhere. Focus on how you interact with your co-workers. The truth is that every person you meet can help you build a bridge. You never know who will help you get where you want to go.
Looking to Work with a Leader in Power Generation Recruitment?
Contact the team at ESGI and our power generation recruiters will help you find the right fit and allow your personal brand to shine with potential employers!
