1.
Start Blogging
Starting and maintaining your own blog requires commitment and an investment of
your time, energy and creativity. While you can blog on any topic you desire,
focusing your blog's theme and content to better serve your industry can be an
outstanding way to show off your personal brand and demonstrate your unique
value to potential employers and career stakeholders. A blog can be a great entrepreneurial
venture to include on your resume and online profiles, and it demonstrates
industry involvement and contribution outside of your full-time experience.
Blogs are easy to start on numerous free and self-hosted platforms.
2. Get
Quoted
Whether
you start your own blog or contribute guest posts regularly to industry-related
blogs, getting quoted in blogs, online magazines, books and printed periodicals
adds a new credential for you to tout in your job search
and boosts your personal brand. Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
is a free service that links journalists, bloggers and authors who need quotes
from experts and experts-to-be who can provide them. Sign up to receive daily
queries from HARO, and respond as often as possible (and as appropriate) to
queries related to your field or areas of interest. Before long, you may be
quoted in the Wall
Street Journal or
interviewed for a leading blog, which will increase your credibility across
your network and beyond.
3. Get
to Know the Important Players in Your Industry
Most
job seekers and professionals neglect informational interviews, likely because they
sound boring, hard to get, ineffective or all of the above. But informational
interviews are actually powerfully effective both in your job search and in
your professional networking. By reaching out and
asking for a few minutes to learn about a fellow professional's career and
experience as well as for a bit of advice (note: this does not mean asking for
a job), you get a chance to introduce yourself and your brand, and make a
stronger connection with someone new. While this person may not be hiring when
you meet, you are now on his radar and may be the first candidate he calls for
his next opening.
4.
Step Up to the Podium
If you
like public speaking and have something
relevant to share with your peers, whether it be advice, experience or case
studies, consider developing a presentation or series of presentations you can
pitch to various industry associations, alumni groups and other organizations.
Whether they're webinars or in-person events, your presentations will set you
apart as a confident thought leader who has true value to share with others,
whether it be an audience or an employer. Research organizations and
associations to find out the topics and events they are currently offering, so
you can then offer something to serve unmet needs or complement their current
event programming
