Your resume is a professional document, but have you ever considered that integrating your personal brand into your resume could give you a competitive edge?
Personal branding can be a powerful tool that enhances your appeal, giving you the opportunity to connect with employers before you have even met them.
By showcasing a strong brand during the job search, you can increase your chances of standing out in an oversaturated marketplace.
Here’s how you can develop your personal brand, reflect your unique skills and values, and make a truly irresistible offer in your resume.
Define your personal brand
It’s a good idea to start by identifying what it is that makes you unique and therefore, an excellent candidate.
This doesn’t just have to focus on the professional skills outlined in the job description. It should include your strengths, skills, values, and key characteristics.
Consider what it is that sets you apart from others in your field. Do you always bring a sense of humour to the workplace? Or are you that colleague who is always on hand to support others when they are struggling?
Your personal brand should also reflect your expertise, personality, and professional goals. So spend some time making notes and defining your brand before you begin.
This can make it much easier to inject personality into your resume.
Craft a compelling resume summary
Your resume should start with a compelling resume summary that is carefully crafted to grab the hiring manager’s attention.
This gives you the perfect chance to create a catchy summary that encapsulates your personal brand.
To do this, you should highlight the key skills that best align with the job, but also write in a tone and style which reflects more of your personality.
Instead of sticking to the usual corporate spiel, throw in some more conversational language to bring it to life and show that you really care about your work.
Share your biggest achievements and how they’ve shaped your career
Your resume is an opportunity to tell your story. It is your chance to showcase your professional journey by sharing key achievements that align with your personal brand.
By sharing examples of your skills and experience as anecdotes, such as specific projects you’ve completed, awards you’ve won, or big milestones you’ve reached, you can illustrate your passion and personality.
It’s also a good idea to back these stories up with facts and figures, highlighting tangible results and proving why you’d be a valuable asset to the company.
Think carefully about your design
The design of your resume is a great way to reflect some of your personal style, whether it’s a simple slick corporate style or a modern graphic-focused layout.
You can take the opportunity to make some smaller changes that reflect your unique brand. For example, changing the color of your headings or adding a photo of yourself can really add life to your resume and help you get noticed.
But just be careful not to go too far and start adding design elements or color schemes that ruin it’s functionality. Remember, your resume needs to be clearly structured, easy to read, and ATS-friendly.
Give insights into how you spend your free time
As well as your work experience, it’s a good idea to outline any volunteer work, local projects, or community days you take part in. These can help to really let your character shine through, as well as show off a range of transferable skills.
You might also consider adding a hobbies and interests section to give more insight into who you are and to show how you fit with the company culture. This can be a great way to show off your personal brand and what you like to do outside the workplace.
That being said, you should only add a hobbies and interests section to your resume if you have the space to do so without compromising on your experience and education sections.
It’s also best to include activities that are closely related to your career in some way or show transferable skills that are desirable in the workplace.
Let your authentic self shine through
It can be hard to inject personality into a resume as these tend to follow traditional structures and you need to make sure you’re ticking all the right boxes.
But through your use of language and authenticity your personal brand can come through on paper.
By using genuine and engaging language throughout and avoiding overused cliches and phrases, you can make your resume unique and reflect your personal brand, helping you to stand out from the crowd.
Continuously update your resume to reflect your journey
Finally, as your career progresses, it’s a good idea to revisit and update your personal branding and your resume to reflect any new values, experiences, skills, and goals you may have.
Your resume should always be a dynamic document that evolves alongside your professional journey.
So when you’re ready to take the next step in your career, remember this and take into account the advice above. That way, you can seamlessly incorporate your personal brand into your resume and enhance your applications.