Latest news with #professionalidentity
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
90 Days, 6 Power Moves: How To Rebrand Your Career & Transform Your Professional Identity
You've done the work, now it's time to reposition your value. Over the next 90 days, focus on ... More redefining how you're seen so the right opportunities can find you. You've done the work. You've earned the degrees, led the teams, surpassed expectations and raised the bar. Yet somehow, you're still being underestimated, not because you're unqualified, but because many systems still don't know how to recognize Black innovation unless it fits a box they've seen before. The truth is, you don't need to prove your value. You need to reposition it and strategize. Whether you're planning to pivot into new industries, seek Senior leadership, or step into entrepreneurship, use the next 90 days to redefine how you're seen and what offers you're going towards; through moving with clarity and intention. Here are six strategic moves to rebrand your career and elevate your professional identity: Being 'overqualified' is often code for 'we're not sure how to place you.' Instead of simply listing your experience, tell the story of your impact. Audit your résumé and LinkedIn, replacing generic, task-based language with storytelling and measurable results. Share outcomes that are relevant to your target role, or help your audience connect the dots for how your skills translate. In a digital-first world, people often encounter your LinkedIn or social profiles before they ever meet you in person. These platforms are more than just a record of past jobs and accomplishments; they serve as your brand billboard and a reflection of the type of work you do. Refresh your headline and bio to reflect where you're headed, not just where you've been. Add a banner image, include links to media or projects that support your professional story, and turn your summary into a narrative that conveys your leadership voice, values, and ambition. And remember, it's okay to fail upward. What matters is how you frame those moments. Build a framework that highlights what you learned, how you adapted, and the results that followed. Teachable moments can become some of your most powerful achievements. You don't always need a VP to vouch for you or a well-known organization on your résumé. Sometimes, it's the colleague in a different department or city who opens the next door or someone you meet through networking who's looking for exactly your personality, skill set, and background. It's not always about who you know, but about who sees your value. Create a networking strategy and be intentional each month by connecting with 3 to 5 professionals across industries and seniority levels. Focus on shared interests and future goals, including impact and measurable results, with other Black professionals in parallel spaces. Use LinkedIn, alumni networks, or communities like Black in Tech, and explore conferences, meetups, or events rooted in your interests. It's important to build networks that grow with you. Having gratitude is important and necessary when navigating economic shifts and instability. However, staying in roles that underpay or undervalue you isn't humility; it's a misalignment. First, get clear on your non-negotiables: compensation, flexibility, values alignment, leadership, and communication style. Use tools like Google, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor to benchmark your worth. Apply with intention, not desperation. You deserve to work in environments where your opinions are respected and used to shape projects and contribute to company growth. You should be engaged with as the professional and expert you are, driving and taking responsibility for the decisions you make and the value you bring. No one climbs alone, and no one has ever built anything alone. The most successful professionals create an ecosystem of support and know how to identify their people. You can do this by identifying your areas of need and seeking support for both personal and professional growth. This might mean finding a colleague who can advocate for you behind closed doors, a mentor who has accomplished what you're aiming to achieve, or a networking group that shares resources, holds you accountable, and reminds you of your brilliance on the days you forget. Start small. A single direct message can plant the seed for real support. The traditional job market often overlooks innovation, especially when it doesn't fit the status quo. But we're no longer waiting for permission. Over the next three months, focus on building your own platform. This could take the form of a newsletter, a series of LinkedIn or social posts, articles, a speaking series, or even a digital portfolio. Your ideas, perspective, and leadership deserve a stage. You don't need to go viral. You just need to be visible and create tools that support your growth and strengthen your network. Remember, you're not reinventing yourself. You're realigning with who you've always been. Rebranding isn't about becoming someone new. It's about communicating your value clearly, confidently, and consistently so the right people and opportunities can find next 90 days aren't just about landing a better title. They're about stepping into your best version and attracting the opportunities you truly want and deserve.
Fast Company
29-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
How to go from ghosted to multiple offers in your job search
The last two years have been one of the toughest job markets I've seen in decades. This isn't like 2020 or 2021, where after the initial phase of the pandemic receded, jobs quickly reappeared. This one has been slow and unrelenting—market volatility causing uncertainty, and digital transformation of workplaces, and AI taking over jobs faster than you can read the headlines. These days, it feels like you're sending your resume into the abyss. Sound familiar? I see it every day as a recruiter and career coach: talented job-seekers submitting application after application into what feels like a black hole. Weeks turn into months. The silence is deafening. Each passing day without a response chips away at your confidence, your bank account, and your sense of professional identity. Luckily, through my work, I've also developed tried-and-true strategies for standing out no matter the market conditions. Here are three powerful steps to reinvigorate your job search. 1. Reclaim Your Value Whether you've just gotten laid off or have already been job searching for months, your self-esteem probably isn't the strongest. You may be feeling bitter, angry, and doubtful of your professional value. Being in that kind of mindset while trying to find a job won't allow you to show up as your best self. For example, I recently worked with a very successful leader who had steered a company over the last several years with enormous success, each year hitting higher and higher revenue targets and winning some of the most sought-after projects in the industry. As the economy shifted, those revenues took a hit—and he was let go because of a 'spreadsheet decision.' He was blindsided and stepped into his job search doubting himself. When working with job seekers who are struggling, we always start with a simple but powerful exercise: documenting significant achievements from their career. Not just responsibilities—actual metrics and results, problems solved, value delivered. I'll ask people to think about things they've done that they're really proud of. I make them dig deep to detail what they do really well, what gets them fired up, and ask them how their colleagues and clients would describe working with them. As they reconnect with their expertise, things they haven't thought of for a while, I see their faces light up and confidence starting to return. You can do this with a career coach, your partner, a best friend, even a colleague who knows you well—just ask them to take notes about what you're telling them to read back to you at the end. Working through these questions with my executive client helped remind him of the successes he was responsible for and the resilience he showed in a tough market. Those reminders allowed him to work through his disappointment, prepare for how he'd talk about the challenges when asked, and enter his job search with renewed confidence in what he had to offer. This isn't just about feeling better; it's about how you show up. When you remember your professional value, you communicate with clarity and conviction. Your entire energy changes, and people take notice. 2. Stop Trying to Be Everything to Everyone When desperation sets in, the instinct is to cast a bigger net. The thinking is, by applying to more jobs, you'll have better odds of landing something. This approach feels logical, but produces the opposite of what you hope for. Sure, you'll be busy applying to things, but because you're not the expert, you likely won't get responses, so all that busy work will lead to frustration and burnout. I recently worked with a client who was going on two years of being out of work. The longer his job search went on, the more he began applying to a broader set of roles, thinking it would increase his chances of landing something. Here's the counterintuitive truth: The more you narrow your focus and lean into your specific expertise, the more responses you'll receive. When I tell people this, their initial response is anxiety; they don't want to limit their options. But when you stop trying to appeal to everyone and boldly claim your niche, everything changes. Applications that once disappeared suddenly generate responses. Interviews that went nowhere convert to eager follow-ups. When you're interviewing for a role where you are the expert, that's the interview you're going to ace. When I work with clients to understand how they're speaking about themselves, we dig deep into what truly distinguishes them. We return to some of those questions from above that uncover their unique approach and what motivates and energizes them. Then we look at the roles they're applying to and narrow their focus to roles and companies where their specific and unique expertise is sought after. We look at their job application materials and see if they're making statements that many others could equally say and ensure that we get quite specific. When I read their new narrative back to them, all of it in their own words, many remark that they got chills—they're finally hearing their professional value articulated in a way that feels authentically powerful and totally unique. When I reminded my client of his incredibly niche expertise—skills that very few people possess—and focused all his job-seeking efforts on companies who could benefit from him, things immediately began to shift. Within one day, he landed an interview. Two days later, he was meeting the leadership team. Companies want to hire the expert. Show them that it's you. 3. Show That You're The Solution They're Looking For The interview is your last chance to not just show why you're great, but show why you're exactly the solution an employer has been looking for. I've seen so many clients underperform in interviews because they're not giving themselves enough credit. But a few simple shifts can transform that: Think offense, not defense. The minute you start justifying why you're right for the role, you've already lost it. Interviewers can feel defensiveness. Own the narrative before that happens by confidently articulating how your experience directly addresses the role's most critical requirements before doubts can surface. Use high-impact storytelling. Give specific examples demonstrating how your experience solves exactly what they need. When you paint these pictures vividly, you allow the interviewer to truly see how effective you will be on day-one. Rehearse your stories before your interview so they are memorable. Embrace transparent confidence. Nothing undermines trust faster than pretending to know everything. When you confidently acknowledge what you know and don't know, you establish genuine credibility. If they really like you and you satisfy most requirements, chances are they can evolve the role around you and fill in the gaps. Take your time. Less is often more. Really listen to what they are asking you, pause, and take a moment to reflect so you can give a considered response. If it's a really tough question, you can even tell the interviewer you'd like a moment to think through your response. It buys you a few seconds to really compose a well-thought out answer and it never fails to impress an interviewer. They'll remember the great answers and they often remark how much they enjoyed how reflective you were in wanting to answer it well. Simple Job Application Changes, Profound Results The strategies I've shared may seem straightforward, or even obvious. But when implemented with consistency and conviction, they transform job searches from no traction to multiple interviews and competing job offers. These strategies work not because they're complicated, but because they align with a fundamental truth: Employers aren't looking for generic candidates; they're looking for the expert to solve their problem, now. When you reconnect with your expertise, focus your efforts, and communicate your value with clarity and confidence, you become that solution. You transform from just another resume in the pile to exactly what they've been searching for.
