Skilled Migrant Professionals Spring 2016 | Page 10

Career

What’s Your
Brand?
Seven essential
steps to creating
your personal brand

IN TODAY’S COMPETITIVE MARKETPLACE, a simple resume
is no longer enough to land you a job. These days, creating a personal brand is the new way to stand out from the competition.
While most of us are familiar with the concept of product brands,
such as Nike telling us to ‘Just Do It’, we’re less familiar with the idea
of branding ourselves.
Branding is “a way for the individual to differentiate themselves
from the rest of the pack,” says human resource consultant and
founder of Nelara HR Consultancy, Gishan Liyange. In addition to
helping companies select the right people for their organisations, Sri
Lankan-born Liyange is also an advocate for helping internationally
trained professionals succeed in the Australian workplace.
Here, Liyange has listed seven steps to help create your brand:

1. Know yourself
“Make a list of your strengths, interests and values, and be
unique,” says Liyange. “You cannot build your personal brand while
pretending you are someone else. To create a strong personal brand,
you need to find yourself, discover your strengths, build on your expertise and remember that you are a brand.”
Liyange points out, however, that developing your personal brand
in Australia doesn’t mean that you must completely reinvent yourself. “Whoever you were in your home country and the successes that you achieved, will remain the same successes in your new
country.”
Many newcomers face a fear of rejection in their new country,
which can stand in the way of developing an authentic personal
brand. It is important to remember, however, that the act of identifying your strengths, interests and values in order to define your
personal brand, can help you increase your confidence and overcome your insecurities.

10

www.smpmagazine.com.au | Spring 2016

By Marlene Ward, Director
of Persuasive Communications

2. Create your branding statement
Once you have identified your strengths, interests and values, you
need to communicate them to the world by putting together your
brand statement. This statement should appear on your resume,
website, business card and LinkedIn profile. Liyange says a brand
statement is like a wedding theme. “Everything from the design of
the wedding invitation to the flowers and the wedding décor should
tie back to the theme that represents the couple.” This means that
once you have chosen your brand statement, everything you do after that point needs to represent this.

3. Be passionate
“Speak from your heart and be passionate about the things that
drive you,” says Liyange. “People know when you’re being fake and
will not respond well to this, but when you are authentic and really
passionate about your subject, they will want more.”

4. Be knowledgeable
In addition to passion, you have to back up your opinions with intelligence. Branding is about being sure you know what you want to
stand for and doing things that support it. Whether online or in person, make sure you participate in discussions and do so intelligently.

5. Use social media effectively
Social media is everywhere and is an extremely effective and immediate way of building and promoting your brand. Start by choosing the appropriate social media channels for your area of expertise.
Whether it’s Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram – there is a vast range of options available and it can be hard
to know where to start. Liyange recommends choosing a maximum
of three outlets to ensure that you can keep up with posting the
frequent content required. When deciding which outlets to focus
on, look at what others in your industry are using. This is where you
will get the most return on your investment of time and effort, and