Obsolete: Your Version of The Brand Called You

In the late 1990s, management consultant Tom Peters explained the importance of self-branding. Creating/promoting a brand was not only critical for PG and GM. You also had to be a brand. That piece of career advice went by the title The Brand Called You.

That's even more essential currently. 

The labor market has become binary: stars and all the rest. All the rest are expendable. Or not even needed in the first place. In my coaching I warn young people and career-changers not to enter a line of work in which they can't stand out, twinkling brightly.

However, the growing wrench in the works on that is that too many of those looking for work - full-time, part-time, contract - are out there with an obsolete brand.

I have reviewed a large number of LinkedIn profiles for those in communications. The skills they highlight are not in high demand. They include:

Journalism

Story-telling

Content-creation

SEO (search engine optimization)

Graphic design.

In demand in communications are:

Crisis communications

Reputation rehab

Prompt efficiency expert

AI content strategist

AI content editor

GAO (generative answer optimization).

If communications players don't have those skills they should learn enough of them to be marketable. If they have them, highlight them, without listing skills no longer in demand. The latter dilutes the branding. 

Employers tell me that obsolete branding also comes out in interviews. The applicant explains who they used to be. Not document with results the exact skill set that's needed for the current job.

Takeaway: Purge the language of The Brand Called You of whatever identifies you as yesterday.

Careers? So Over. It’s about Earning a Good Living. No matter what.

Complimentary consultation. No Pressure. Street-smart Guidance. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.


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