Branding Your Resume – How to Create a Lasting Impression.

All this talk about the importance of branding your resume for your job search … what it really comes down to is name recognition. You want to set yourself apart so the hiring manager remembers your name and calls you for the interview. But how do you really know if you’ve created a personal brand for yourself and infused that brand into your resume? Here are some top indicators that you’ve successfully branded your resume.

TARGETING

You’ve targeted your resume to one specific position and customized the job title, professional summary, and keywords to highlight your most relevant experience and expertise in relation to this target position. The opposite of this would be a very bland and generic objective statement or blanket career summary that could describe almost any professional.

VISUAL BRANDING

You’ve used various visually appealing elements to brand yourself and your resume. Using color, shading, boxes, charts, graphs, work samples, design elements, and occupational icons to set your resume apart from the competition. The opposite of this would be a boring old resume template that makes you look like every other job seeker.

VERBAL BRANDING

Examples, testimonials, case studies, one-liners, slogans, mission statements, and success stories could all be used as part of personally branding your resume. Each one of these is so unique to you that it can’t help but distinguish you from other applicants. No two job seekers would have the same verbal branding. Not including these elements runs the risk of making you look and sound similar to all the other applicants vying for the same position.

Personal branding, when broken down into these three areas, is easier to tackle. Simply take one element at a time and address it within your resume, and before you realize it you’ll have a completely branded representation of YOU. You’ll notice your resume response rate increasing, and you’ll be more confident about presenting yourself to the employer for consideration. Rather not tackle branding your own resume? That’s OK too. We use a comprehensive resume and personal branding strategy session when we work with our clients, and my writers are masters at defining a client’s personal brand and value proposition and then marketing that message on their resume. For more information about our award-winning, five-star resume writing service, feel free to call me at 1.800.991.5187 or e-mail me today.