Just like a product or service depends on its brand to establish a voice, tone, values and appeal of their agency, you as a professional must also exhibit your unique brand qualities. You own the skill set, but what is your personality, your beliefs, your desire, and your individual stamp.

With a densely populated pool of potential candidates seeking employment in a competitive landscape, you have to ask yourself how are you presenting “you: the brand.” As a candidate, you have a toolbox of different skills and methods you can draw from in order to make your candidacy as successful as possible. Use the tools that you have: a resume, a social presence (LinkedIn), your approach (etiquette) and networking chops (events).

In this article, I’ll cover two of those tools: your resume and a professional online presence, most specifically LinkedIn and how to optimize them.

Your resume: where practicality meets personality

A resume is essentially a list of your skill sets and intentions: objective, education, current and previous places of employment, your titles, internships, sometimes volunteer work, hobbies/activities (my favorite), software skills, and other additional accolades.

Recruiters and hiring managers review dozens of resumes daily, there is a system: glance over titles and companies, then education to obtain a quick assessment of an applicant worthy of pursuing further. Then I go to the “stuff’ at the bottom. Yes – those hobbies, awards, volunteer work, extension courses post college. This is my favorite part because a candidate shines through as an individual when these details are revealed.

As a job seeker, this is where you can really showcase your true self – your core, your personal brand. It can reveal who you are, how you’re not just another cog in the wheel, a drone, a faceless number; you are a cool, interesting, vibrant person who in turn also has mad skills!

Demonstrating these things also allows the recruiter to gain more perspective on you as a person and an applicant, and what unique qualities you can bring to the company.

Here’s an example of the kind of thing that can catch a recruiter’s eye: a resume landed on my desk and it listed a small, rigorous but intensely creative overseas study program in Florence that they had attended. As it happens, I had as well. While a certain level this is not anything more than a funny coincidence, it is also the kind of information that stands out, in spite of the coincidence in this case. What it did for me was establish a sense of familiarity, allowing me to make a connection immediately and to identify with someone which is a positive experience. This one piece of information that could have easily been deemed insignificant, was in essence an asset that lead to an interview.

Conversely, having knowledge of how selective that specific program is, I can predict she would be a diligent employee with a strong work ethic. It is notable, though, that regardless of this coincidence, a recruiter can gain great insight when you include these kind of details.

Another, broader example, is if I were to see “improv” or “storytelling” listed under activities, I am able to recognize that that person is comfortable in his or her own skin and with public speaking, thus likely to have a good, sociable and professional manner, and an ease in conversing with other colleagues or even pitching clients. It’s these small details – ones that are often be left on the cutting room floor – that most readily translate to a unique asset and provide leverage in getting an interview. 

Your LinkedIn: how you show off your resume and your personal brand

Your LinkedIn should mirror your resume in design, language and overall feel. But it’s also another way of creating an extension of yourself as an individual and a candidate. You have a worldwide platform – this is your stage, so use it in a way that best represents your brand. Remember: what you put forth as a brand is what you will attract. So, while some applicants choose to play it safe and stick to the basics, others are playful; perhaps these folks are bloggers, art directors, creatives and the like. Again, its about knowing your audience.

Additional LinkedIn-specific elements I seek out are what groups and companies that you follow on the site, it exhibits that you follow competitors and trends, staying involved in the community and industry at large. Additionally, you have the option to showcase samples of your work: website design and writing samples, PDFs, presentation decks and really anything that can directly show off who you are and what you can do from a portfolio perspective. This is the stuff we recruiters love to see! You should be using LinkedIn to its fullest capacity.

But above all – and I stress this – is to be yourself. Provide the interviewer a chance to know you as a person and applicant. By actively exhibiting your personal brand as an extension of your ability as a potential employee, will determine if you are the right cultural fit.

If you are engaged and good humored, and happen to land the job, then it was the right chemistry and cultural fit. If you didn’t receive the job, then it wasn’t right for you. But always keep in mind: you are interviewing the company as well, not only to find out if it’s the job you want, but to determine and gauge if it fits with your personal brand.