The Difference Between Branded and Nobody #personalBranding

The Difference Between Branded and Nobody #personalBranding Almost two years ago I hung my shingle out and looked for a full-time job. I had JibberJobber at a point where it didnt need (or want) my full attention, Pluralsight wasnt ready for anymore of my courses and I had time. I also needed a change of scenery. And heck, if I had time, why not look for something where I could get paid, and create one more income stream? So I did what I had been talking about others doing for years and I became a job seeker. It wasnt as fun as it sounds, but it was definitely more fun than years early, in 2006, when I didnt know what the heck I was doing. Long story short, I got a job, and heres how it started: I found a posting on LinkedIn that was just plain weird. It fit me perfectly and I couldnt imagine it would fit anyone else. I applied, thinking it would go nowhere, but I got this reply from the hiring manager, a VP (I blurred out his name but then thought he wouldnt really care :p): Up to that point the only response I got to any applications was a canned automated email or crickets. And now I get this flattering response from the VP. When I told my wife about his response she thought for a minute and then said he probably says that to everyone who has applied. I was pretty stoked, but she brought me down to earth :p Long story short, I got hired, months later Rusty left, and a few months later they pulled the plug on my whole program. So I got nine months in corporate, refreshed my ability to politic, and had a fun time working my tail off on something that was just destined to die (well, as long as Rusty was there it wasnt. Thats another thread, though). The point of this post is not about my last job, or its demise. Its that I impressed the hiring manager enough that he would  respond to me in such a way as he did. Yesterday I was thinking about this and realized that it wasnt necessarily my background sure, Ive done some really cool things, and everything I have done was perfect for this role but I know tons of people who have done amazingly cool things. Would Rusty have given them the same kind of response? Ive heard sayings like if you arent on LinkedIn you dont exist and if I cant find you on Google you dont exist. Not true. There are plenty of people who have no online presence who exist and are very successful. But, as I was thinking about why Rusty would respond to me that way I thought it had to do with how I presented myself and my experiences on my LinkedIn profile. Im not going to say that you dont exist. But, I can tell you that as a hiring manager, if Im down to the last five or ten profiles, and they are all pretty lame (I call them skeleton profiles), but one stands out because not only does that person have the experience I want, but they explain and dig into their careers in a way that they are memorable and prove they have what Im looking for, Im inclined to be more interested in them than you. Skeleton profiles on LinkedIn dont help you. Not looking? Congratulations but you might be looking soon :p Let me suggest one of the most important courses Ive ever done for Pluralsight I just tweeted this yesterday: One of my most important @pluralsight courses is titled Developing a Killer Personal Brand. This is about YOUR career and how you can make it better: https://t.co/V6nxjsq2hJ â€" Jason Alba (@jasonalba) September 23, 2019 The concepts in that course are timeless principles. In the olden days we called it reputation and reputation management. Now we call it personal branding. Who knows what it will be called next. Whether you use LinkedIn or Instagram or whatever, there are principles. And thats what I go into. The course is 2 hours if you want a 30 day pass to the entire Pluralsight library let me know. Since I started out with talking about LinkedIn, let me also recommend my LinkedIn courses the first is on optimizing your LinkedIn profile and the second is on  developing a proactive strategy on LinkedIn. The Difference Between Branded and Nobody #personalBranding Almost two years ago I hung my shingle out and looked for a full-time job. I had JibberJobber at a point where it didnt need (or want) my full attention, Pluralsight wasnt ready for anymore of my courses and I had time. I also needed a change of scenery. And heck, if I had time, why not look for something where I could get paid, and create one more income stream? So I did what I had been talking about others doing for years and I became a job seeker. It wasnt as fun as it sounds, but it was definitely more fun than years early, in 2006, when I didnt know what the heck I was doing. Long story short, I got a job, and heres how it started: I found a posting on LinkedIn that was just plain weird. It fit me perfectly and I couldnt imagine it would fit anyone else. I applied, thinking it would go nowhere, but I got this reply from the hiring manager, a VP (I blurred out his name but then thought he wouldnt really care :p): Up to that point the only response I got to any applications was a canned automated email or crickets. And now I get this flattering response from the VP. When I told my wife about his response she thought for a minute and then said he probably says that to everyone who has applied. I was pretty stoked, but she brought me down to earth :p Long story short, I got hired, months later Rusty left, and a few months later they pulled the plug on my whole program. So I got nine months in corporate, refreshed my ability to politic, and had a fun time working my tail off on something that was just destined to die (well, as long as Rusty was there it wasnt. Thats another thread, though). The point of this post is not about my last job, or its demise. Its that I impressed the hiring manager enough that he would  respond to me in such a way as he did. Yesterday I was thinking about this and realized that it wasnt necessarily my background sure, Ive done some really cool things, and everything I have done was perfect for this role but I know tons of people who have done amazingly cool things. Would Rusty have given them the same kind of response? Ive heard sayings like if you arent on LinkedIn you dont exist and if I cant find you on Google you dont exist. Not true. There are plenty of people who have no online presence who exist and are very successful. But, as I was thinking about why Rusty would respond to me that way I thought it had to do with how I presented myself and my experiences on my LinkedIn profile. Im not going to say that you dont exist. But, I can tell you that as a hiring manager, if Im down to the last five or ten profiles, and they are all pretty lame (I call them skeleton profiles), but one stands out because not only does that person have the experience I want, but they explain and dig into their careers in a way that they are memorable and prove they have what Im looking for, Im inclined to be more interested in them than you. Skeleton profiles on LinkedIn dont help you. Not looking? Congratulations but you might be looking soon :p Let me suggest one of the most important courses Ive ever done for Pluralsight I just tweeted this yesterday: One of my most important @pluralsight courses is titled Developing a Killer Personal Brand. This is about YOUR career and how you can make it better: https://t.co/V6nxjsq2hJ â€" Jason Alba (@jasonalba) September 23, 2019 The concepts in that course are timeless principles. In the olden days we called it reputation and reputation management. Now we call it personal branding. Who knows what it will be called next. Whether you use LinkedIn or Instagram or whatever, there are principles. And thats what I go into. The course is 2 hours if you want a 30 day pass to the entire Pluralsight library let me know. Since I started out with talking about LinkedIn, let me also recommend my LinkedIn courses the first is on optimizing your LinkedIn profile and the second is on  developing a proactive strategy on LinkedIn.