Each year, CDI (Career Directors International) hosts the resume writing industry’s most prestigious Toast of the Resume Industry™ (TORI) resume writing competition; an international competition in which contestants submit their best work in a category. It was an honor to be selected as 2nd place winner for Best Information Technology Resume. And I was equally …
Long gone are the days of sending out resumes cut and pasted from Internet resume templates. For executives going through the career transition process this manner of applying for positions will simply not cut it. While boilerplate cover letters and generic resumes littered with a few keywords here and there may work for entry level …
Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone recommends that you build your network before you need it and keep in touch with your network on an ongoing basis. He also recommends that you periodically connect with each of your contacts to keep abreast of their initiatives and to share yours. To do this efficiently and effortlessly, …
Your branded value proposition is your unique promise of value. It is a statement of the tangible results a company expects to gain by hiring you. But how do you define this value and, most importantly, how do you demonstrate your value to the company you are interviewing with? When defining value, it is important …
Personal branding is the future of executive career management. It means identifying and communicating what makes you unique, relevant, and compelling so that you can reach your career goals and achieve your purpose. Personal branding is about differentiation. It’s about leveraging what makes you exceptional so you stand out from the myriad others who offer …
Brands are built on your daily actions and behavior. There is no such thing as a communication, activity, posture, or approach that doesn’t count. Your brand is constantly being evaluated by those around you—both consciously and unconsciously. While most senior executives are not of the chest-pounding type, when it comes to managing your career, it …
Reflecting on the past year can be very enlightening. While we all live such busy lives, we seldom take time to celebrate our learnings and accomplishments. Yet, it’s important to set aside 30-40 minutes each month, or at least, quarterly to jot down some notes about our accomplishments. So many times when I’m interviewing clients …
Integrate your brand in to your career marketing materials. Weave your clear and compelling brand into your value proposition, accomplishment statements, resume, online bios and profiles, letters, website, blog, web portfolio, career biographies, positioning statements, leadership philosophy, and any other self-marketing materials you have created.
Create a strategy for developing brand equity. As in traditional marketing, your executive brand should remain consistent throughout all of your marketing channels to build brand equity. The positive feelings your target audience accumulates about you is what makes your brand a valuable asset. Building a brand requires you to gain name recognition for your …
Create a plan to take your brand to market. You can have an incredible brand, but if no one knows about it, you’re not going to experience much success in your career. Once you’ve identified your brand, create a promotional strategy to make your brand come alive. Decide who your target audience will be, what …
