How Do You Rebrand When You Are Transitioning Industries?
Personal reinvention is necessary for many reasons. Maybe you’re looking to take on a new challenge or find more meaningful work. Maybe you’re hoping to shake limiting perceptions of you that hinder your career growth. Rebranding can be a major shift, such as a retail manager moving into a marketing analyst position, or it can be a subtle transition from a manager role to a leadership position within the same industry. Whatever changes you’re hoping to manifest, taking control of your personal brand is a necessary part of the journey and can mean the difference between a lackluster position and a rewarding career. One of the trickiest steps in this path is persuading others to embrace your rebranding efforts.
There are techniques you can use to facilitate a smooth industry transition. Recognizing your strengths, defining your destination, and marrying the one to the other should be your first objective. You have skills. Once you have determined your destination, you will be able to figure out which skills apply and how. Remove the industry-specific labels and reframe your skill-set with the lens of whatever position you want to be in. Research keywords in your target industry and reword your skills to match. Use this new language in your resume, LinkedIn profile, and interviews.
Recognize the distinct “you-ness” that will be inherently part of your personal brand regardless of industry and find a way to embrace it. Leverage your points of difference, whether that be previous experience that distinctively colors your new brand or distinguishing personality traits that you can use to your advantage. Shrewdly leverage anything that makes you stand out whether or not these attributes are strictly relevant to your work.
Perhaps the most crucial part of successfully rebranding yourself when you transition industries involves crafting your narrative. Your personal story of why you chose to transition to a different career should communicate to prospective employers what this move means to you and where exactly you want to go. Though it is perfectly natural for human beings to be curious and want to develop new interests, employers are liable to view this as erratic behavior unless you provide another explanation. In order to protect your personal brand, it is therefore necessary to formulate a coherent narrative to explain precisely how your past experience fits into your present goal.
You may have changed directions in a big way, but you cannot expect the people in your vague but expansive social and professional network to know this unless you deliberately and strategically reintroduce yourself. These are the same people who will, hopefully, be your buyers, leads, and promoters in the future. Update your social media content: Facebook, LinkedIn, website, etc. Make sure your information is consistent and up-to-date.
Do not underestimate the importance of having a strong LinkedIn profile. Regardless of industry, the most critical foundational element of your career marketing effort is your LinkedIn profile. To make your profile more compelling, integrate multimedia elements that showcase your expertise. An easy way to use LinkedIn is to share articles relevant to your target market on your homepage. You can also participate in the platform’s special interest groups.
Waller & Company is a one-stop-shop consultancy that implements online presence strategy, public relations, and crisis communications to help leaders and businesses manage their brand. Very few companies offer a full-complement of personal branding services necessary to guide leaders through all stages of their professional life-cycle. Our goal is to help clients use personal branding to increase visibility, leverage expertise, and attract new opportunities. Due to the very diverse needs of our clientele, our services range from individual consultations to training workshops for corporations and nonprofit organizations.
