Half a Loaf Blog

Who is Brand YOU?
“If you want to see change you have to see yourself” – Gandhi
The first question I ask of any professional that comes to see me is “How would you describe yourself as a person?” The next is “Would your friends see you in the same way?” It is very interesting how many people can’t answer that question, they describe themselves in their professional capacity, accountant, lawyer, project manager or in terms of the role they play in their personal life, e.g: husband, wife, father, mother. Questions like these are exploring if the person knows themself, if they have a good understanding of who they are, the list of characteristics that make them unique and what makes them tick.
It is interesting that the definition of Personality is “Mask”, so the next step in your career campaign is to look at yourself and answer the question “Who am I?”. We allow years of myths, superstitions and the limiting thoughts of “what others think of us”, to shape our thinking, influence our behaviours and limit our potential. Now is the time to look behind that mask and see your true self, compile the list of personal attributes that best describe YOU. A great way of starting this process is to do an online personality assessment or use the services of a trained professional.
The results of these profiles give you an insight into how you react to others or situations, your ideal working environment, how you like to be managed and what your ideal role is within a team situation.
Action: Write down the attributes that best describe you. Are you outgoing, introverted, ambitious, motivated, confident, generous, sensitive, perceptive, adaptive, responsible… the list is endless!
You have started to paint the picture and add colour to Brand YOU.
Next week we will explore how to go about assessing your skills and talent so that you can complete your own stock take of your skills and talents to answer the question “What can I do?”
For more information on Selling Brand YOU, see www.sellingbrandYOU.com.

Selling Brand YOU – Your Career Campaign

Constantly dealing with uncertainty can be very debilitating and sometimes it can be difficult to see where you want to go and how to get there.

Developing your own personalised career campaign involves a series of steps that will need a combination of reflection and action.

Over the next 8 weeks we will help you work through the steps you need to take to get the career campaign that suits you and your needs.

Working through change in a positive way
It is easy advice to give, but harder advice to take.
Nevertheless, staying positive is the key to keeping your sanity through the tumultuous, exciting, anxiety-filled process of finding the role that suits your needs.
Your attitude greatly affects everything that you do. It can literally make things happen for you—or not. The best advice we can give to people is to always frame things as optimistically as possible.
For inspiration, try reading Po Bronson’s book, What Should I Do With My Life? which tells the stories of a number of ordinary people and their search for fulfilling careers.
Many people hunt for a new career with instant gratification in mind; for example, the highest salary often wins the prize. However, while money is an important consideration for all of us, is it enough to keep you happy?
Think about your long-term needs:
• Are you a morning person? Then working nights will not cut it.
• Hate leaving friends and family for work-related travel? Keep that in mind when considering jobs that will put you on the road.
These may seem like small details in your career search, but they add up. A good career—and salary—are ideally things that you grow into.
The key to long term success is choosing a career that you can happily invest in for years. So consider the day-to-day basics that make your life enjoyable.
Action Stations: List your long term needs, write them down and rank them in order of importance to YOU.

Next week we will talk about how to assess your skills and talents so that you can identify your ideal role.

For more information on how Selling Brand YOU can help with your own personalised career campaign see www.sellingbrandYOU.com or call 01 495 4891.

Introducing Selling Brand YOU – Your Career Campaign

 Can you describe in detail the role that suits your skills and experience?
 Do you know who is hiring for your ideal role at the moment?
 What job search activities are you doing?
 Does your CV get you sitting in front of a potential employer?
 Do you know how to sell yourself at interview?

We live in different and challenging times, where getting the job you want is now a job in itself.

Over the next while Lynda and Sharon from Selling Brand YOU – Your Career Campaign will offer their practical tips and advice on how to go about getting the role that suits your needs in the current climate.

Topics covered include:

1. Working through change in a positive way
2. Assessing your skills and talents
3. Feeling confident in your own abilities and talents
4. Identifying Options and Opportunities that suit you
5. Finding your ideal role, including using of social media tools
6. Devising a knock out communication strategy for CVs, Covering Letters etc
7. Perfecting your interview performance to showcase your value to an employer
8. Designing a detailed project plan of “Get to Work” activities and tasks

If there are any other topics that you think we should cover please email Lynda@sellingbrandYOU.com or Sharon@sellingbrandYOU.com.

For more information on the Selling Brand YOU series of one day interactive workshops please see www.sellingbrandYOU.com.

Two successful business women have collaborated to create a series of workshops to share their experiences and to help professionals find direction in these challenging times. With over 40 years of business experience between them, Sharon Bannerton and Lynda McCracken will guide you to obtain the role that suits your needs.

http://www.sellingbrandyou.com