Depending on your age, you may have been taught that there is one way (or two or three ways) to write a resume. It must be a maximum of two pages. And it should not contain any “funny stuff” like cutesy fonts, graphics or overly casual language. In general, these are still pretty good guidelines – but they are not hard and fast rules anymore.

Your personal brand is more important to your job search than ever and it’s time to let it shine through in your resume.

Here's why...

Brands convey focus. 

Whether we are looking at company brands or personal ones, the great ones all have something in common.

Brands have a clear focus and that focus helps to direct the decisions of that business… or person.

Coca Cola for example is an iconic brand that consistently promotes its message of being an uplifting product that brings people together. Apple relentlessly focusses on product design developing beautiful and easy to use devices that have customers lining up outside electronics stores the night before their release. Richard Branson’s Virgin company is known for being a cheeky brand that pushes boundaries in innovation and marketing while reinventing the relationship between company, employee and customer.

What does your personal brand convey?

Personal brands have always existed in some form, but today with the internet and social media, they are easier to build – and more important - than ever.

If you think you don’t have a personal brand, you are wrong.

Everyone has a personal brand, but unless you spend time to develop it, it may not be a very good one.

How do you build a personal brand?

Your personal brand begins to develop when you look within to discover your true purpose.

Are you – like Coca Cola - on this earth to bring joy?

Are you – like Apple – here to design and develop products that make people’s lives easier and better?

Are you – like Virgin – here to challenge the status quo?

Listening to your heart on this matter can, not only help to shape your resume, but it can help to shape your career path and entire future as well.

Now that you have this insight, it is time to dig even deeper to further build your brand. What sets you apart from others? What tone of voice will you use? Would it be beneficial for you to have a personal logo made? A website? A blog? Professional social media accounts?

Incorporating your personal brand into your resume.

There are a variety of techniques that you can use to infuse your resume with your personal brand. To some extent, what you do is going to depend on the type of job you are applying for.

Employers in the creative space, for example, may be more likely to enjoy creative resumes.

Here are a few tips for bringing your personal brand to your resume:

•  Create a personal branding statement to place near the top of your resume.

Let the hiring manager know exactly what you stand for and what you have to bring to the table.

•   List your accolades in your own voice.

You probably already know you need to list your accomplishments on your resume – but try doing so with your own voice by incorporating language or themes from your personal branding statement.

•    Be bold in your layout.

The general wisdom for resumes is to go with your standard 12 point Times New Roman or Ariel font in black and for some job applications that may still be a good idea. If however, you feel it would be to your benefit to highlight something in a colour, use bold, italics or underline then go ahead and do it! Just be sure to keep it tasteful.

Get started on your personally branded resume today

If you agree that your resume needs an upgrade and if you agree that you need to more strongly incorporate your personal brand, then Careers by Design’s resume service can help.

Brands like Coca Cola, Apple and Virgin did not get where they are today through the efforts of one person. They all had great teams.

The Careers by Design team can help you to develop your personal and give your resume a boost, so give us a call today or click on the Learn More button below.