How to Present a Multi-Faceted Professional Brand

Most resume and job search experts agree that your resume should be focused on your current career goal.  Many advisors will explain the importance of building and presenting a consistent brand.  How do you focus on a current goal and construct a consistent brand when you have multiple career goals?   That can be a challenge, but it is possible. Also, you can create a powerful branding campaign.

Define Your Career Goals

Consider your skills, knowledge, and work history.  What do you want to do next? What do you do well?  If you hit a wall when defining your career goals, consider working with a career coach.  A coach can help you through simple exercises and discussions to get to know yourself better and help you define what you might find most fulfilling.

Narrow Your Goals

Many candidates will have a list, sometimes a long list, of interesting occupations.  The next step is narrowing that list to attainable and available jobs.  Study job postings and carefully read the job requirements.  Also, review the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the forecast of open jobs in future years. Focusing on what is attainable and available will help you devise a winning job search strategy.  Narrowing your goals to three or two career paths is ideal.

Write a Set of Resumes

Create a customized resume for each career path.  You can use the job postings as inspiration to determine which of your skills and accomplishments are most relevant to that particular career path.   Your resume is an extension of your brand.  Within your brand, you can highlight particular elements of your brand that match the needs of particular employers.  In other words, you will have a set of two or three branded resumes, each one emphasizing particular elements of your brand.  These customized resumes will increase your marketability while staying true to your overall brand.

LinkedIn Profile Update

As you know, you have just one personal LinkedIn profile.  How can you customize your message for three career goals in one profile?   The answer is: You can’t.   Your LinkedIn profile is a combination of your skills, expertise, and accomplishments that relate to your multiple career goals.  Starting with a more broad or comprehensive headline, you could showcase an overarching theme or hit the two or three top keywords. Here are two examples: “Attorney with extensive litigation and R&D experience” or “Photography * Creative Direction * Website Development.”   In the “Summary” and “Skills & Endorsements” section of LinkedIn.com, you have ample space to share top skills and achievements from each area.  Also, consider featuring common attributes that are beneficial in all of your target jobs, such as problem solving, relationship building, or team management. You will also want to highlight specific examples that support your skills.

Each of us has many skills and potentially many career paths.  Using the above techniques, you can be tightly targeted when necessary (i.e., resumes and cover letters) and showcase your variety of talents and knowledge when you are communicating with a broader audience (i.e., LinkedIn.com, your blog, or Twitter).  It is smart to think carefully in all of your communications, so you are transmitting a carefully-crafted, consistent brand message.