Almost every time I meet with a prospective client, they share with me their desire to get noticed so they can get promoted and ultimately increase their income. I hear things like “I am tired of being passed over,” “No one notices or values me or my work,” “I am underpaid and underappreciated,” or worse yet, “If something doesn’t change soon, I don’t know what I am going to do.”
Do you hear yourself in any of these phrases? If so, then read on to learn my top three ways to get noticed, get promoted, and get a raise.
1. Create A Memorable Personal Brand
I know many of you have heard about the importance of personal branding, but it cannot be overlooked. I like to sum up Personal Branding this way – Your Personal Brand is simply the facts in discussion about you. The Facts get introduced one of three ways:
What you say.
What you do.
What others say about what you said or did.
The good news is that you have total control of two out of these three elements and can greatly influence the third. If you feel as though you are being overlooked at work, the best way to begin to either brand or re-brand yourself is by having a clear answer to the question “How are things going?” This is your opportunity to share your recent accomplishments, a significant leadership experience, or reinforce a particular level of expertise that will distinguish you from other employees.
Here is an example, “Things are going great, my team just finished XYZ project early and under budget due to myimplementation of the new ABC process. I am really excited and looking forward to leveraging my learning doing DEF.” No longer should your answer be “Things are fine or Good and you.” Take the opportunity to toot your own horn without the appearance of bragging.
2. Invest In Your Ongoing Development
As an employee, entrepreneur, or small business owner, you have to stay on the cutting edge of your industry and your area of expertise. One of the best ways most leaders do this is by reading trade journals and industry magazines, but your “book knowledge” isn’t all you need.
As you rise in the ranks, it is most important that you have the soft skills necessary to succeed and lead. To that end, most successful leaders invest in both soft skill training as well as an Executive Coach to help them hone their ability to face the challenges of leadership and thrive in their careers.
3. Create Community
I tell my clients all the time that when it comes time to decide who gets the next big assignment or promotion, you won’t be in the running if there isn’t a person at the table advocating for you. As you think about creating your professional community and enhancing your relationships make sure you get these relationships right:
Your Immediate Manger and their Boss – Typically these are the two people who have the biggest potential impact on others’ perceptions of your potential. Often there opinion carries a significant amount of influence over both perception and promotability.
Your Sponsor – Someone typically at the Director level or above who is familiar with and supports you and your work and has either the power or the necessary influence to “make things happen for you.”
Your Mentor – Someone two to three levels above you (ideally in your organization or at least in your industry) that can provide you with the “unwritten rules” and help you navigate the political waters of your organization.
Your Peers and Subordinates – Those you work with who have a significant amount of influence on how you are perceived in your organization, so make sure you have a reputation as someone others want to work with and for.
Industry Leaders – Being known and respected by leaders in your industry and organization help to pave the way for swift career advancement. Take every opportunity including company social events and industry conferences to connect with leaders who could influence your future promotion.
Focusing on these relationships will set you up today for the success you want to achieve tomorrow. Take a few moments now to critically analyze your personal brand, your development strategy, and your network. Identify any gaps you may have and create a plan to fill those gaps as soon as possible.
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Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.