Craft A Thoughtful Job Review To Enhance Your Personal Brand

There are many different ways to build and maintain a pristine personal brand, but there may be a fairly common opportunity that you could be overlooking. Online job reviews are a great resource for job seekers to get advice on companies they're applying to work for, but they're not the only ones who can take advantage of those reflections.

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Enhance Your Personal Brand With This Bold Move

Many job sites like Indeed don't allow you to put your name next to your employee reviews, but that doesn't mean the information isn't relevant for your personal brand. You might not be able to find your review through a Google search of your name, but you can use the content as an exhibit for your accomplishments. It takes a lot of guts to pull off, but you could share your job reviews with other potential employers during the interview process to show your skill set and attitude.

Analytical Skills

If you can assess what a company does well and what it does not, you can use that same mindset to improve your output and your potential company's bottom line in the right situation. You can't possibly be an expert in every area that a company does business, but if you see a trend emerging in your department that is especially notable, be sure to point it out and mention how it applies to your case. You don't always want to copy what other companies do, but if you adapt their successes to your company's attributes and strengths, you can sound smart and create a plan for real progress.

Communication Skills

If your review is written well, it shows anyone who reads it that you are deliberate in your word choice and can communicate effectively with others. Everyone could use another clear communicator. Sometimes being brief is the best way to communicate, so out of respect for that rule, I'll stop this paragraph here.

Another Step You Could Take For Added Visibility

For people who are especially confident in their ability to write well, you could even publish your review on your own personal blog or social media profile. That's the easiest way for someone to see what you've created just through a search of your name. NOTE: We're not endorsing people using their personal blogs or social media profiles as a platform to bash employers. That would be completely irresponsible. However, using your past experience as a series of lessons to share and learn from paints a picture to others that you're selfless, constantly trying to improve and don't do things without thinking about their consequences first.

Be Careful With Your Phrasing!

Make sure you don't come off as a know-it-all by selecting your language with caution. Emphasizing the good parts of the job and company are a must. Where you can't offer sterling praise, give a positive twist on a problem the company is tackling.

• For instance, if the company grew very fast and couldn't scale its resources as effectively as you would have liked, you could talk about its ambitious goal-setting. If you're more of a details person than a big picture guy or gal, you still need the occasional look up from the trenches to see where your work fits in.
• If the business didn't offer as much guidance as you thought you needed, you could mention the self-direction it develops in its employees. Even if you're unhappy with how it happened, you still had practice in an important skill because of setting.

If your review is done properly, it won't sound like sucking up. If you talk about it in person or over the phone with an interviewer, it gives you an extra opportunity to exhibit your point with the proper tone of voice and body language.

Don't Just Summarize, Add Suggestions For Future Employees

Since finding the right fit for a given job and company is so important, incorporate suggestions for the type of person that would work well there.

• If your job constantly requires teamwork, mention that the ability to get along with a wide variety of people is important. (If your team is built to last, there should probably be many different personality types on it.)
• If a company has many jobs that require repetitive work, suggest that people who try to make everything fun apply for the the open positions. When I worked for the Hudson Valley Renegades baseball team, I turned picking up fireworks into a rave, complete with blasting music and embarrassing dance moves.

The employees who see your review will be able to know whether their attitude or skills match with the company. Any past employers that read it will have a better idea of the type of people they should be looking to hire. Prospective employers of yours will know sooner and more clearly if you're a good fit given their setting, so you'll save them (and yourself) time by either bonding more quickly or knowing that you're not a fit.

Conclusion

Just like you present your professional growth in the best light through your resume, LinkedIn profile and interview responses, you should package your work environment with the same gift wrap. If you write thorough, honest and positive reviews for each of your past jobs or internships, you'll be in the right state of mind to quantify your accomplishments and explain why you were (or were not) a great fit for those companies. The act of reflecting on your past gigs will give you a better idea of the types of places you want to work (and those you want to avoid). It may be a significant investment of time, but it has the chance to show you something you may never have thought of before. Enjoy this article? You've got time for another! Check out these related articles:

• 3 Examples Of Great Personal Branding
• The Perfect Recipe For A Great Personal Brand
• Is Your Personal Brand Wrong?

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