Establishing a pull versus push strategy can help facilitate your job search

Dear Sam: I am working full-time, as is my wife, we have four children under the age of eight, and we are trying to balance both of us working remotely with constant daycare and school closings – sorry for venting! Anyway, how on earth are we supposed to engage in a productive job search when we can barely manage what we currently have on our plate? – Tom

Dear Tom: I don't blame you for venting! You and your wife, and many other families, face unprecedented challenges while trying to navigate our new 'normal' during the pandemic. I don't have any magic in terms of how you could conduct effective job searches while balancing these non-negotiable priorities, but I will tell you that I have had clients in very similar situations that have made decisions for one spouse to engage in a search while the other places their search on hold. As you already know, conducting an effective job search can be a full-time job, so doing so effectively while balancing your other priorities will be challenging. To help facilitate more of a "pull" versus a "push" strategy, make sure your LinkedIn profile is completely up-to-date and optimized, set up the behind-the-scenes recruiter profile on LinkedIn, establish search agents to send targeted positions to your LinkedIn profile or email automatically, and activate your network to search on your behalf. If you can take 15-30 minutes of your day for your job search—scheduled on your calendar and do without fail—that may seem more manageable than trying to carve out significant chunks of your day. At the end of a week, you will have spent quality time on your career search. Hopefully, these pull strategies will accelerate your ability to transition without you having to do a tremendous amount of pushing your resume out there. I hope things settle down very soon for your family and all others balancing these unprecedented demands.

Dear Sam: I don't understand the term personal branding. Is that just a fancy term for a resume, or am I missing something? - Tilly

Dear Tilly: So many people are confused about what personal branding is versus just creating a resume showing the positions you have held. Building a personal brand starts with defining your target audience. Much like in marketing, no company would ever try to advertise their product or service without first understanding the audience to whom they were advertising. Your brand is no different. The first step in creating your brand is truly identifying what audience you are targeting by knowing what positions you will be applying for. Once you know that, you can perform your due diligence to understand what a “qualified” candidate looks like. Determine this by reviewing job postings, engaging in discussions with your networking contacts, and becoming familiar with what qualifications and experiences you need to qualify for your target roles. Next, and this is the part that changes a resume into a brand, tell your story in a way that resonates with that audience.

I often think of an old-fashioned resume being an ocean filled with tiny islands, each island standing in isolation. Meaning your resume is presenting each of your positions independently with no connectivity between them. Creating a brand means understanding where those islands lead and building bridges between them to present a story about your journey that culminates in your final destination or the job you want. So think of personal branding more as storytelling in a way that engages your target audience and shows how you are uniquely qualified for your target opportunities.

When you have written your story and defined the personal brand you are selling, you will want to make sure that you cascade those efforts across all of your career search channels. Remember that your job search does not solely include your resume but also the messaging you put out to target companies and networking contacts, the content on your LinkedIn profile, the answers you prepare for your interviews, and your engagement in the community and industry related to your profession. Your brand should be thought of as an overarching theme to who you are professionally and tell a consistent story across all channels related to your career search. When you take the time to define your brand and tell your story in a compelling and relevant way, you will ensure others see you as you want to be seen, accelerating your journey toward your career destination.

Samantha Nolan is an Advanced Personal Branding Strategist and Career Expert, founder and CEO of Nolan Branding. Do you have a resume, career, or job search question for Dear Sam? Reach Samantha at [email protected]. For information on Nolan Branding’s services, visit www.nolanbranding.com or call 614-570-3442.