Ahmed Shaami
The first impression you leave on your colleagues, superiors, partners, friends, as well as clients, is through your personal brand. In the business world today, your personal brand is the only thing that helps you avail opportunities and open new doors of possibilities. Whether you launch your own business, hunt for a new career, or stay prepared for any new opportunity crossing your path, a strong personal brand can set you apart from the rest. Your personal brand makes you more definable and makes people understand what you are all about.
But you have to make yourself more marketable to make yourself more findable and attractive. Following are the few ways you can do that easily:
Keep updating your skills:
By keeping your skills updated, you can stay marketable in the long-run. You can attend conferences and workshops that help you expand your skillset and learn about the changing trends. The best way is to align your skill set with your organization’s plans and to that of your potential employers so that you can become a highly valuable employee.
Keep improving:
The practices and technology in an industry keep on changing with time. The skills you have today may not be of much value a few years later. Therefore, make a commitment with improvement through expanding your learning. Increase your value by strengthening your knowledge and qualification.
Refresh your resume/profile:
The upgrading of new skills will make you achieve many new things that must be included in your resume. Therefore, keep refreshing your resume with the achievements you have made. Give examples on how you improved the business processes, contributed to any important conference or workshops you were invited to. This all is going to add value to your current role.
Remain flexible:
In today’s world, the job market is constantly evolving. You cannot have same rigid employment preferences that you had a few years ago, therefore, you must open up your mind for additional carrier opportunities.
Increase your network:
For becoming more marketable it is really important to have a strong network of contacts. It is one of the most useful job search and career development tools that you can have. Attend meetings, conferences, or any events that can help you meet new contacts.
Stay up-to-date about the new trends:
You cannot just predict what skills will be of value in future and the ones that will be wiped out. Stay informed with the relevant trade journals, job advertisements, as well as the industry researches. Whatever developments and opportunities arise in your industry, you must be well-informed about them.
Create a portfolio:
You need to show your work to people in order to be of value to the potential clients. Therefore, keep samples of your best work and it is best if you establish an online portfolio. Attach your portfolio to your LinkedIn profile so that it becomes easier for your potential clients to see what you are capable of.
