Feedback

Seek honest feedback from your manager, mentors, professors and trusted colleagues. The best way to understand the impact that your brand is having is to ask those who are experiencing it. It's important to seek unbiased opinions because if there is an inconsistency, it’s better to know and fix it than to have a blind spot. In grad school, we were given the assignment of sending anonymous surveys to a group of peers to select words that best described us from a word bank. It allowed for quick but real feedback on our interactions with others.

Brand yourself as a subject matter expert

Blogging is an excellent outlet to showcase your expertise. You can build your own blog or leverage the LinkedIn publishing platform. Writing about your chosen field instantly builds your credibility. Additionally, if you are looking to transition careers/industries, your writing will demonstrate your unique value and industry insight. LinkedIn has a dope editorial calendar to get some ideas brewing.

Demonstrate thought leadership

No matter the industry, hiring managers are always looking for candidates who demonstrate thought leadership. Social media enables you to showcase this skill globally. Participating in Twitter chats and group discussions allows others to understand your perspective. Join LinkedIn groups and Twitter chats that contain professionals who work within the industry you are looking to grow within. Interacting with these professionals not only allows you to grow your network, but you will also learn from them. Capitalize on the virtual connections you build by scheduling informational interviews. This could lead to a new mentor, job opportunity or simply sound advice!

Showcase your work and accomplishments

Creating an online portfolio allows others to see the quality and depth of your work. It increases the credibility of the line items on your resume and showcases how you convert your thought leadership into action. You can leverage the portfolio feature on LinkedIn and sites such as Squarespace to showcase your work. If you are in a field where you cannot showcase your work as it might be confidential, you can also leverage a portfolio to demonstrate your community involvement and awards. Taking this route allows hiring managers, recruiters, potential investors, etc. to see the depth of character and leadership.

What steps have you implemented to upgrade your brand? Tell us in the comments below!

I know, you’re probably over the term personal branding . It’s a buzzword that’s still in heavy rotation. As annoying as it might be to hear, it's still vitally important. Your personal brand defines you and speaks for you when aren't able to speak for yourself. Additionally, your personal brand impacts your digital brand which, in today’s society, is as essential as your resumé . Here are four tips you can leverage to step up your personal brand this yearKyshira Moffett, MBA is a millennial career and personal brand consultant. She is also the creator of #HERmovement, which represents feeling the fear and doing it anyway. You can learn more about her by visiting thisisHERmovement.com and by connecting with her on Twitter @ 2movesahead