In today’s job market, applicants usually incorporate technical skills or hard skills as personal branding. While it is useful to include hard skills to make it easier to identify, job applicants need to add something else that makes them different. It aims to make personal branding stronger and stand out among other applicants. By applying soft skills into personal branding , you will build a stronger reputation. You will get more job interview requests.
Strategy to Build Personal Branding
Personal branding is the image, reputation, and perception of other people in accordance with how you want to be seen.
To build a reputation and self-image, you need to combine characteristics, values, expertise, and personality.
For example, you are a writer. In building your self-image, what kind of writer do you want to be seen as? Is it a fiction writer? Web article writer? or researchers?.
After you choose the most dominant technical skill, choose the points that can make you stand out (unique selling proposition) .
Make sure if you are a real expert in your field.
Once you know the value you want to “sell”, promote it through your social media profiles. You can start by creating LinkedIn or other professional social media.
Building a personal brand can help you:
- Stand out from competitors
- Higher visibility for recruiters
- Build a loyal audience/clients
- Expanding career opportunities
- Meet with appropriate business partners and clients
Types and Examples of Soft Skills
There is a saying that people are recruited for hard skills but fired for soft skills . This situation requires recruiters and HR not only to look at the hard skills but also the soft skills of applicants.
There are two types of soft skills , namely inner soft skills and outer soft skills .
Inner soft skills mean non-technical skills that exist and are applied to oneself. Meanwhile , outer soft skills are non-technical skills to build relationships with other people.
Inner Soft Skill
Examples of inner soft skills are:
1. Critical Thinking
Nothing is more important than the ability to analyze situations and make decisions. Understanding problems and making solutions are basic skills in working professionally. The skills that accompany critical thinking are creativity, flexibility, and high curiosity.
2. Self Awareness
Another basic thing is to know yourself or self-aware. Knowing your own values, abilities, and weaknesses is fundamental to building the right personal brand . With self-awareness , you better understand the work and tasks that are most suitable for you.
3. Emotion Management
Conditions in the workplace are not always smooth. Repeated requests for revisions, unhappy clients, or an overly demanding boss can be emotionally challenging. Keep calm and actualize professionalism. Communicate the problem and make repairs immediately.
4. Stress Management
Stress doesn’t always have a negative effect. If you have good stress management, you can manage that stress as motivation to grow better. Instead of focusing on the stress you are experiencing, focus on the solution.
5. Time Management
The demands of the job can be overwhelming and exhausting. Whereas you only have limited time and energy. Time management is a basic thing that you must apply in order to perform optimally in every job. Not only building self-discipline, time management is beneficial for a good self-image because your work is judged to be always on time.
6. Adaptation
The ability to adapt quickly in new environments and situations is called adaptation. Adaptability and flexibility are very important in your personal branding . Recruiters see you as a person who is always learning and receptive to new adjustments. Prove in your CV or cover letter that you have faced a changing situation in the middle of a project and that project you still managed to handle well.
Outer Soft Skill
Examples of outer soft skills include:
1. Communication
Oral and written communication are important soft skills to develop. Communication skills include skills:
- active listening,
- present information orally
- public speaking ,
- negotiation,
- self-expression and demeanor,
- use of diction,
- and communication through writing, for example letters, e-mails, or others.
Oral communication skills will mostly be tested through interview sessions. So practice speaking fluently, dare to look at the other person, and use good grammar.
2. Work in a Team
There is no company without a team. No matter how big or small a company is, there are divisions that work with each other on an ongoing basis. Working with a wide variety of people can be a challenge. You need to have the ability to work in a team so that work targets can be achieved together.
3. Leadership _
Leadership is an overall management skill. If you have a high leadership spirit, you can manage the team under you. You also have the skills to make sure everything goes well. Not everyone has a high leadership spirit. You need to hone it through experience and a learning process.
5. Positive Attitude
Having a positive attitude brings positive energy in the workplace. A positive environment can make work more enjoyable and stress-free. Positive attitudes that you can apply include:
- Self-confident
- cooperative
- Enthusiastic
- Friendly
- Honesty
- Be patient
- Respect each others
- Take care of other people’s feelings
How to Show Soft Skills in Personal Branding
1. Take advantage of Resume
Write down examples of behaviors and previous work that can legitimize your soft skills . For example, if you are a leader, show that you have been the head of a particular project or division. Show how it went and what you have achieved from that position.
2. Maximize LinkedIn Profile
On your LinkedIn social media profile, you can write a “summary” section or a summary of yourself. Choose words that describe your skills.
For example, you are a graphic designer, then write like this:
“I am a detail-oriented Graphic Designer with on-time work results”.
It shows that you are someone who has good detail and time management soft skills .
3. Strengthen Soft Skill Explanation in Motivation Letter
Sometimes in the recruitment process, companies ask you to make a motivation letter or cover letter . You can use this opportunity to write down your self-worth, your purpose for applying, and the skills you have, both hard skills and soft skills.
Tell an example relevant to the soft skill you want to demonstrate. For example, you want to write down soft skills adaptation. You can tell us about your experience during the WFO to WFH change and how you coped with the change.
So how? Are you ready to enter the world of work? Prepare yourself as thoroughly as possible so that you can achieve the career of your dreams. You can start thinking about what personal branding and soft skills you want to highlight.
Hopefully Tumbooh ‘s method can help you incorporate soft skills into your personal branding ! Come on, share this information so that your colleagues can also be successful like you!
