Keeping Your Brand Strong: Protecting Your Name As An Executive

When you’re in the middle of an executive-level job search, the last thing you want to do along the way is destroy what you’ve work so hard to build. The things you have built include confidence in your abilities, your networking base, and your professional brand.

Of the three, the latter is the easiest to damage in a world where much of your brand rests in the open forum known as the Internet. However, while it is easy to damage your brand, it is just as easy to keep it in tack if you know what to do. Here are a few tips to help you do just that …

Avoid Having Too Much Fun Online

Spending time on the Internet can definitely be fun. There are so many ways to catch up with old acquaintances and meet new ones that it’s often difficult to step away from it. However, you want to keep in mind that an executive brand is something you build both online and off.

Therefore, it's important to be professional on the Internet–maybe even more so than when you're off the Internet. So while you’re posting your Facebook updates, it’s good to make sure that they’re always respectable and politically correct, especially if you leave your page open for others besides your friends to see it.

Social Networking: Proceed with Caution

Since we’re mentioning Facebook, let’s explore the social networking phenomenon that has exploded across the Web. Social websites allow people to network and re-meet people that they might have known a long time ago. Some social networking websites like LinkedIn offer incredible tools for executives, and can make it much easier to find a desirable position. There are problems with social networking websites, however, especially if you jump across many different websites too frequently.

If you befriend the world on every social network then don’t actually use the profile, some will become annoyed with you. Still, this all-too-damaging mistake is very common among executives. If you’re on all of the sites, it’s good to use them all, even though this can be very tiring. This is why your best bet is to choose one, use it often and use it well.

Don’t Forget the Offline World

Sometimes we can get so caught up in our virtual realities that we forget there is a 3-dimensional world waiting to greet us. Any type of successful networking used to absolutely require speaking to a person face to face (and this wasn't too long ago–only about fifteen years or so).

Now, with texting, emailing, Twitter “tweeting,” Facebook status updating and LinkedIn network updating, it’s hard to resist spending your meet-and-greet time behind the computer. But if all you do is spend time online, you’re missing out on great social events that people may look for you at. So while you’re maintaining your brand online, it’s good to never forget to nurture your offline brand as well.

Building up your executive brand takes a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication, but it can be undone by relatively minor mistakes and missteps. So as you maintain your brand, take time to make sure you’re doing so in the most productive way possible.

Tags: career, Employment, executive job search, executive resumes, job search, social networking