For you to sell your brand you have to believe in yourself. You have to feel good about yourself. When you leave the nest of your old company and go out into the world again, you need to do so from a position of strength and confidence. I found the experience to be very, very humbling. At the same time, I knew I could no longer rely on my reputation within my old organization to sell myself to new organizations.
We are discouraged as children to brag about ourselves. We are discouraged as children to engage in conversations with strangers and ask for help. You have to put aside those cultural norms during this process. Networking sounds like a cliché but you need to do this. When you are looking to re-enter the job market or looking to make a change, you need to work it from various angles. If you don’t have one already, build a LinkedIn page. Find people you know and connect. I never bothered with LinkedIn until I was out of work. This isn’t something you can do in an hour so start now. Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect – just start the process. Besides the fact that it is a good networking tool, it tells the world you understand the current environment and you are capable of creating your brand. Don’t worry – if you have a Facebook page you can do this. The process of building your LinkedIn page is fairly intuitive, even though it may seem daunting at first.
Hire a professional resume writer (there are many you can find on line). After asking you to fill out an application regarding your education and past positions, they will create a resume for you that tells the world how fabulous you are! You are likely to look at their creation and say to yourself, “damn – I’m someone they should take notice of!” Again, we are hesitant to brag about ourselves so let someone write the words for you so you can properly sell your brand.
Be honest with yourself and identify what skills will be needed in the type of job to which you will be applying. What will distinguish you from other candidates? I decided that managing projects is something I always enjoyed doing in my career. I took a course, spent hours studying, and obtained my project management certification (PMP). I also knew that my Excel skills were not the best, since up until I left my prior role I had people around me who were the Excel wizards and took care of the more complicated spreadsheets. So, I took an intermediate and advanced Excel course. These things not only helped me to be more marketable, they gave me confidence.
What type of career are you pursuing? Is there a certification program that is needed but you never took the time to pursue it? Now is the time. I also believe that showing a potential employer that you are still open to learning and growing is incredibly important. It contradicts that stereotype that says at this stage you are adverse to change, and just looking to punch a clock and collect a paycheck.
Stay relevant, stay current, draw upon your many years of experience and the lessons learned from those experiences, and the exercise of doing so will bolster your confidence to go after that position that you know is a great fit. Be strong!
