In crafting your own personal brand, what is the one thing that comes to peoples’ minds when they think of you? What is the adjective or phrase that best describes you? If there isn’t one, then create it and live it. With today’s information overload, you have to draw peoples’ attention to your it. If successful, you will create a distinct career advantage.
Posted: Sunday, July 12, 2009 - 4:04:07 PM by Chris Bilotta

• Create consistent content
  Pay close attention to the content of all your profiles in the same way that you scrutinize your resume. Make sure all information is accurate, consistent, and reflects your personal brand. Triple check all spelling and grammar.

• Focus on quality
  The sheer number of contacts you have is not as important as the quality of those contacts. You should make your connections selectively and ideally limit them to people you know or who have been recommended.

• Solicit referrals
  Don’t be hesitant to ask professional colleagues to post a recommendation on your profile. Testimonials are a great way to communicate positive input about your experience, value and personal brand.

1. Purpose - Your letter not only serves as an ambassador for you, introducing your credentials, but an effective letter must also generate the reader's interest in you. Ultimately you want to prompt a favorable reply.

2. Audience - Think about the perspective of the person who will read your letter. They are not interested in what YOU want, but rather in what value you offer. What you convey should prove of interest enough to lead the reader to want to meet you.

3. Structure - A letter should be composed of:
   • introductory paragraph that explains why you are writing and shows some knowledge of the company
   • value-selling paragraph that demonstrates your unique value proposition
   • highlights of your key strengths and abilities
   • statement that either compels or ensures follow-up action
   • statement of appreciation

4. Point of View - Write in the first person; but vary your sentences with beginning phrases and clauses so that each line does not start with "I."

5. Match Needs with Qualifications - Show the reader you meet the position specifications, which will help simplify the process of reading your letter.

6. Good Writing Requires Rewriting - Don't be satisfied with your first draft. After you let your ideas flow, go back and review your writing for glaring grammatical errors. Edit to remove unnecessary words and phrases. Limit your paragraphs to five or six lines, so you don't overwhelm the reader.

7. Appearance - Proof your letters very carefully. Have someone else review them. Don't rely on a computer spell-checker. A word may be correctly spelled but inappropriate for the context.

Here are 5 tips that you may not find on other lists. For the rest of their top 10 go to http://ca.sys-con.com/node/1028139.

• Follow Your Passion. People with passion and enthusiasm separate themselves from the pack. Looking for a job is one of the hardest tasks you will ever tackle. You need strong, positive emotions Enthusiastic people are engaging and confident. Do what you love and you will out-last and out-compete all others.

• Stop Talking About the Past. You need to talk about the future. Research trends, especially federal and state stimulus spending, new technologies, and regulatory changes. What's hot? How are you going to help the company transform and thrive in the future? Throw out old vocabulary, and replace it with the latest lingo and concepts.

• Use Social Media. Being known by respected professionals and peers is a great path to an interview. Use social media such as LinkedIn. Write online articles. Contribute to and comment on influential blogs.

• Don't be Cheap, Invest in Yourself. Cutting back on unnecessary expenses when unemployed is wise; however, failing to continue to invest in you is foolish. You are the most important asset you have. Besides, while jobs are scarce, it's the perfect time to retool.

• Have One, Memorable Message. Your personal website, profiles, cover letter, resume and conversations should have a consistent, engaging message about who you are, what you love to do, and the results you create. Your message needs to be engaging and memorable, so that others can repeat and share it.

You should mail a follow-up letter within 24 hours of your interview. Ideally, it should be typed (or neatly written) and addressed to the main interviewer or the person to whom you’ll report. The letter should again thank them for their time and consideration and ask for the job! It should portray you as being confident and ready to meet the challenges of the position. By mentioning the other people whom you talked with, it will be obvious that you were attentive, interested in the needs of the employer, and eager to be a member of their team. Another objective of this letter is to demonstrate your writing ability. This letter is an excellent opportunity to recap your problem-solving abilities and make specific mention of major projects or tasks that the company wants to address in this hire and how your strengths can help them achieve their goals.

A written letter is generally preferable to sending e-mail; however, based on time sensitivities, e-mail is acceptable. In the case of e-mail, send the same content as mentioned above to the hiring manager. Also, send a short thank you note to the other interviewers along with any specific comments that you want to include based on your conversations. Address each e-mail individually.

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