{"id":2603,"date":"2011-05-12T07:23:20","date_gmt":"2011-05-12T11:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/executivecareerbrand.com\/?p=2603"},"modified":"2018-02-19T12:19:00","modified_gmt":"2018-02-19T17:19:00","slug":"are-you-a-personal-brand-cheater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/executivecareerbrand.com\/are-you-a-personal-brand-cheater\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You a Personal Brand Cheater?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Personal branding has certainly become an accepted, and\u00a0even expected, part of executive job search. But I see too many people misunderstanding and misusing branding in ways that may sabotage their chances of landing the jobs they want.<\/p>\n

I break the personal brand cheaters into two groups:<\/p>\n

1. The deceitful<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

They boast, in brand messaging that is not authentically them.\u00a0It’s about who they strive to be or how they want to be perceived, so the information is not, shall we say, “accurate”. They over-inflate, and are imprecise about who they are and what they have to offer.<\/p>\n

To be fair, these people probably haven\u2019t done any branding work, so they don\u2019t “get” it. Or they\u2019re just poor writers, and should probably work with a professional.<\/p>\n

2. The lazy thieves<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

They see someone else\u2019s brand messaging, perhaps on a LinkedIn profile, that kind of sounds like them and is written well, so they “borrow” it for their own LinkedIn profile or resume or other career marketing communications. It\u2019s so much easier than doing the work themselves.<\/p>\n

I wrote about this practice in my post, What\u2019s Wrong with Copying an Executive Brand Resume Sample<\/a>?<\/p>\n

I mentioned one client who initially sent me the resume he\u2019d written, that needed work. The brand statement he used was vaguely familiar. Sure enough, it came straight from one of the resume samples on my blogsite.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re either type of cheater, you face some problems:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 You\u2019ll have to live up to any claims you make and deliver on the promise of value in your messaging.\u00a0Be very careful about how you present and represent yourself \u2013\u00a0on paper, online and in person.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Circumventing the personal branding process \u2013\u00a0not learning how your unique value proposition aligns with your target companies\u2019 needs \u2013\u00a0leaves you at a disadvantage as you move through the job search process. You won\u2019t be as well prepared to\u00a0speak about and promote\u00a0yourself when networking and in job interviews.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Doing the branding work is energizing. You\u2019ll be empowered by what differentiates you from your job-seeking competitors, and what you have to offer that no one else does. And your brand messaging could be even better than you expected, and more compelling than the nifty phrases you lifted from someone else.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Stealing content violates copyright law. Anything published online is automatically protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).<\/p>\n

Related posts:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

10 Steps to an Authentic, Magnetic Personal Brand<\/a><\/p>\n

What Personal Branding is NOT<\/a><\/p>\n

10 Things to Love About Your Executive Brand<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Too many people misunderstand and misuse branding in ways that may sabotage their chances of landing the jobs they want.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,6],"tags":[95,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-2603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-executive-career-management","7":"category-executive-job-search","8":"category-executive-personal-and-career-branding","9":"tag-executive-branding","10":"tag-executive-job-search","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"yoast_head":"\nAre You a Personal Brand Cheater? 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