Gabrielle Hennessey at Brand-Yourself.com explains that there are three primary qualities that make up your personal brand: competencies (skills), personality (your goals, morals, and identity), and your value (what you can contribute to an organization).

With that said, I decided to write a short post here as a worksheet of what my three qualities consist of:

1.) Competencies:

• I am skilled in graphic and web design.
• I am skilled in the necessary computer programs that facilitate my design skills.
• I have a thorough understanding of color theory, typography, print process, and design.
• I have the ability to brainstorm design and strategize marketing/advertising plans, to be carried out across multiple types of media.
• I have strong written and verbal communication skills.
• I have an ability to carry projects through all phases of implementation including: concept, budgeting, design development, and resource allocation/ management.

2.) Personality:

• Honest
• Hard-working
• Loyal
• Organized
• Detail-oriented

3.) My Value:

• I can contribute my experience in building a marketing/design department from the ground up, as I have in my current position, over the course of four years while my company doubled in size.

Gabrielle also mentions not to put too much thought into a job title, and I couldn’t agree more. I’m a fan of those companies where you can pick your own title (Joe Ribaudo: Supreme Chancellor of Awesome), because really- do titles matter outside of the Human Resources department? If I’m looking to hire you, do I care if you were an Associate Vice President or an Assistant Vice President? I’ll be looking at how your three qualities match up against those of another applicant.

Perhaps this stems from the countless orders of business cards that I’ve had to design where the client made it a point to tell me that he was the “Regional Director of such-and-such”, not just a “Director”?

…getting back on topic, Gabrielle goes on to stress the importance of “getting your name out there.” As far as I’m concerned, you need to use any tools you can to brand yourself. This can come in a multitude of ways, but I’ve found that having this blog has been effective for me. I’ve also had business cards produced (for past job searches) with my personal “elevator speech” printed on them. Still, for others, it may be attending networking events, joining professional organizations, or volunteering for speaking engagements.

Last but not least, is consistency (employers love this). If you’re a blog owner, or have accounts with twitter, facebook, or LinkedIn, make sure that your personal brand is the same throughout- you never know where your next job offer may come from!

Via Gabrielle Hennessey at Brand-Yourself.com.