Personal branding is the way in which you represent yourself, skills, accomplishments, and tell your professional story so far.

The brand which you create, can prove deal breaking when you are looking for the next opportunity in your procurement career.

Your personal brand should be consistent and represent the real you.  Your online profiles should be a true reflection of the person you are. So, when it’s time to meet colleagues, industry peers and potential employers the in-person version of yourself matches what they have seen online. If not, you risk losing credibility and give others reason for doubt.

Your personal brand is in everything you do; whether in-person or online.  It’s portrayed through your social media accounts, your CV, networking, company interactions and professional events/conferences.

Currently looking for a new role?

Or maybe you would like to establish yourself further within your current role or industry network – here are some tips on how to create personal branding for yourself.

Knowledge is power.

Keep up to date with purchasing legislation & changes within your industry by continuing to learn.  Attend training courses, listen to webinars and podcasts – to ensure you can offer insightful and timely snippets of knowledge.  You want to be able to “join the conversation”, which showcases your expertise.

How do you look?

Review your current online presence and make sure your social media accounts reflect you in the correct way.  Personal accounts are personal for a reason, however, be aware of the crossover and determine what elements of your private life should be public.  You can edit your privacy preferences on all social media accounts to control who sees what.

Don’t stop building your network.

Don’t stand still when it comes to networking, each new connection you make can boost your reputation and create new potential opportunities.

Create a plan.

Build a strategic plan of how you would like to be perceived by both potential employers and your peers.  You can refer to your plan when posting content, submitting comments, and creating blog posts.

Commit to staying consistent.

In business consistency is the route to establishing any plan.  This is the case with your personal branding strategy; you may not be able to create a new blog post each week, but you can share insightful content, add your opinion on a pole or post a news article quickly and regularly.

Make sure your personal brand is a true reflection of your professional development and it will prove beneficial when looking for your next purchasing role.

Looking to further your skill set visit the CIPS for their latest Webinars

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