Happiness Concierge founder Rachel Service presented to Hub members, sharing their tips on how to set yourself apart from the crowd, create your brand, and get noticed.
What people say about you when you’re not in the room directly influences the opportunities that land on your desk.
Regardless of whether you work for yourself, a startup, or are looking to consult – you need to understand how to communicate what you’re good at, what you’re looking to do more of, and who you need to know to get there.
The perfect combination can turbocharge your career progression.
What do I want to be known for?
It’s up to you to influence how others see you by identifying what you’d like to be known for.
At Brand You, we encourage students to consider what they want to be known for and to work towards creating small steps that can support this goal. Once we have clarity on what we want to be known for, what we enjoy and what we want to do more of, we’re in a stronger position to communicate it succinctly and with conviction.
What are some words people would use to describe you, and what words would you like to be associated with?
Your profile is the feeling someone has when they think of you. How people feel about you directly influences how willing they are to support you – it isn’t solely built upon what you know, but rather people’s impressions.
Do people feel good about themselves around you? Do they trust you? Do you deliver when you say you will?
Help others see your brilliance
The people you surround yourself with have their own perceptions of who you are and these perceptions influence opportunities available to you.
For example, if you want to be taken seriously at work, can your colleagues rely on you to be organised, look in control and be someone who can take and give helpful feedback? If the goal is to be seen as a market leader, would someone automatically think that is the case upon stumbling on your online profile?
If someone met you at a networking event, would they make an assumption about your capabilities? Are you nice to be around or do you focus on what you don’t like? Do you communicate competence and confidence, or hide in the corner, communicating something else?
Here are some guiding questions to identify how you are perceived:
- Do I act, speak and look the part of my existing or dream role?
- Do people feel tired or inspired after spending time with me?
- Do people make time for me or continually flake or make excuses?
Place yourself in the shoes of your colleagues, family members and friends, if we asked them what you are known for, what would they say? Does this accurately reflect how your colleagues and those who can influence your future step would describe you? If not, why not?
Amplify your network
Your current network holds countless opportunities to connect with potential career opportunities.
Our network can be split into three areas:
- Strong ties; our friends and coworkers that we interact with on a regular basis,
- Weak ties; acquaintances we may bump into every six months
- Dormant ties; people we have a prior history with through work or other connections.
Read more: 7 Ways A Small Business Community Can Help You Grow
Strong ties are likely to know the same people or things as you, whereas weak and third party ties give us access to a diversity of ideas, opportunities and social networks we normally would not belong to.
We’ve all heard stories of somebody landing a job through a friend of a friend.
Reaching out to third party and weak ties enables us to make a leap from where we are to where we imagine ourselves to be.
Whether you’re looking to transition to a new career or take your current role to the next level, it’s essential to understand your brand; what you’re known for, how to help others see your brilliance, and how to amplify your network. When we effectively communicate our expertise, we are able to unlock opportunities to do what ignites our passion, increase respect from peers and those in senior positions, and improve relationships with those who have power to affect your future.
Now that you’re en route to unlocking your ‘Brand You’, I’d love to know: how can we help you?
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Hub Australia is home to a nationwide community of growing businesses, so you can connect with a new world of strong ties while you work.
Visit a location near you to find the perfect place to help your business grow.
