Peer to Peer Magazine

13 WWW.ILTANET.ORG BEST PRACTICES Create and Build Your Personal Brand ELIZABETH GREENE Elizabeth Greene, MBA is currently the Assistant Director of Human Resources at Fennemore Craig, P.C. She is responsible for creating and managing staff retention and development programs, including rewards and recognition programs to instill a team-based culture within the firm. Elizabeth architects training program platforms to support continuous skills assessment and development, and she measures the effectiveness of the human resources programs. Contact her at egreene@fclaw.com. KELLY HARBOUR Kelly Harbour is the Associate Director of Client Relations at Goulston & Storrs PC, where she focuses on the development and execution of strategic, data-driven business development plans and client service initiatives. Contact her at kharbour@ goulstonstorrs.com. and solve problems. Though you should continually undertake activities that support each part of the process, where you focus your time depends on your overall goal. If you are job-hunting, focus on demonstrating your ability to solve problems and nurturing relationships with those in your network who might help you find (and land) that next great opportunity. » Create Awareness: To create awareness, be visible and be prepared, both internally and externally. Eat lunch with a colleague in the cafeteria instead of at your desk, aend an ILTA local luncheon or share interesting content with your network on social media. Capitalize on these opportunities by being prepared. When you aend an event, set a goal of introducing yourself to two people you do not know or invite a colleague you want to get to know beer to come with you. Before the event, think about what you want to share and what you want to learn from those in aendance. » Build Credibility: To build credibility within your firm or company, do good work and get things done. Many people face problems that seem like they cannot be solved and tasks that do not fall within the scope of their jobs. The people who get hired and promoted find a way to get things done anyway — without complaining. Continuously expand your expertise and skills, and apply what you have learned. When you solve a novel problem, future-proof your firm from a trend you see coming or find a new way to solve an old problem, think about sharing your experience through writing or volunteering to speak at a conference or local event. » Build Relationships: Hiring a new employee is incredibly time-intensive for any organization; choosing the wrong person ultimately adds to the organization's costs in terms of time, money and effort. Hiring someone with a known brand who is recommended by a colleague eliminates a level of uncertainty for the firm and gives that candidate a significant advantage. Building relationships that lead to new opportunities takes time. Inside or outside your organization, instead of thinking about how people can help you, think about how you can help them. Recommend a book or a movie, or deliver a project that far exceeds expectations. The closer the "help" is to the job you want, the more quickly your relationship can turn into a professional endorsement; however, relationships that develop slowly and are built on both a personal and professional foundation are likely to be more mutually beneficial in the long term. » Solve Problems: Becoming a subject-maer expert or geing hired is about your ability to solve problems that a particular organization has. While the problems of organizations are relatively similar, the way people solve them changes more frequently. Focusing on your job title may define you too narrowly, particularly if you are at a larger firm or company where there is more specialization. A colleague doing similar work at a smaller firm might have a different job title and could even be in a different department. To be seen as a problem-solver instead of a job title, change the way you talk about what you do. Instead of saying, "I'm an IT project manager," say, "I manage interdisciplinary project teams that reduce costs and improve efficiencies, typically through a combination of implementing process improvements and a technology solution." Monitor trends in the industry, and aim to be at the forefront of how solutions to the problems you solve should evolve in kind. Implement your ideas, and use your lessons learned to create a blog post or article, or reach out to your contacts to share your ideas. In this way, you will build your credibility and relationships, which, over time, will lead to opportunities for growth. In today's ever-competitive job market, taking the time to create and build your personal brand will benefit your career in the long term. P2P

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