Job security can seem like a pipedream in today’s chaotic marketplace. How can you ensure your job security in a world of stock market chaos, downsizing and layoffs? You can create employment insurance by learning to communicate effectively your personal brand at work.
These are some tips to help you build your personal brand and ensure that you have a job, even in difficult times.
1. Get to know your audience. People tend to believe that personal branding is about you. Personal branders need to ensure that their brands fulfill their customers’ needs, just like successful corporate marketers make sure they have products that meet their consumers’ needs. Ask your boss! Next, do everything you can to fulfill their needs. Become indispensable. This is a surefire way for your employer to keep you valuable.
2. Recognize your strengths and use them to benefit your company. Do you have any skills that you don’t use at work? Are you able to offer more skills than what you have now? Your company will not be able to afford to lose any talent you possess.
3. Think beyond what your job description says. Use your strengths to do more than your job description. If they do not perform beyond what is expected, they will be the first to be fired in a situation where there are no other options. Strong personal brands look beyond the job description to find ways to make their brand stronger. Flexibility and versatility are key. You can be proactive and get tasks done before they are asked. You can make your supervisors’ lives easier. You’ll be a valuable asset to your employer and take more pride in what you do.
4. Increase your credibility. Do your employees want you to be the best at what you do? To become a top performer, you can use your education, experience, and endorsements. Do you have the right experience to perform the tasks? Do you use all the relevant past experience you have? Are you able to take a seminar or another course to increase your job credibility? Do you ask clients or supervisors for testimonials and endorsements to prove your worth?
5. Pay attention to your personal brand personality. Your brand personality is your dominant attitude, temperament, or personality. It’s similar to the difference between Coca Cola and Pepsi. Although their ingredients are the same, each brand has its own “character”, which smart marketers have created. Smart personal branding is the same. Employers want people they love. Are you displaying the right character for the job? This is an important part of personal branding.
6. Be consistent. All you do should communicate your personal brand. Your employer will see consistency in your brand and know that you are reliable. You must also look and sound like your personal brand. You should dress professionally and speak clearly. To be friendly and open-minded, you should study body language. These efforts will help you retain your job and may even lead to promotion.
7. Manage your reactions. It’s easy to fall prey to knee-jerk responses, but they are almost never worth it. Nine out of ten times, an angry reaction will be the reason you wish you could go back in time. When you feel like you may be tempted to react in a snap, take a deep breath and keep your emotions in check. You should take the time to think rationally and take the time to do so. You will be proud of your brand and it won’t make you regret it.
8. Keep a positive outlook. Do not get caught in the “misery” that spreads whenever the stock market falls. Negative thinking will not help you no matter what’s going on around. It may even bring you down with it. Science is starting to realize that our thoughts might have more power than we think. Keep your thoughts positive and you will see the best. This will make your life easier in difficult times, but it can also help to create a better tomorrow.
No matter how worried you are about your job, mastering your personal branding is one of the best ways to ensure job security and to earn a better salary and advance in your career. Your powerful personal brand makes you a person to watch. Is there any better job insurance than this?