More and more people are talking about the importance of personal branding both in your career search and in your career development.

Before my second year in the MBA program, I knew that I had a personal brand, but I didn’t quite have the right words to communicate it or make it “stick” in my interviews and even in my online profiles, resume, cover letters etc.

I want to thank Frank Lane, respected marketing professional and author of Killer Brands, for graciously sharing his time and expertise with our Brand Management Career Acceleration Module this past fall and for doing a mini branding workshop with us that motivated me to come up with my own personal brand.

In his workshop, I created the brand “generator,” because I felt that it really represented my ability to bring endless energy and passion to my work, instill motivation in my teams as both leader and contributing member, propose new and creative ideas and solutions and deliver immediate and lasting results in diverse environments.

I began to incorporate the “generator” into all of my career search outputs as it seemed to truly fit me.  And while at first it did initially feel weird to say “I consider myself a generator because…” directly to employers and recruiters when they asked me why I should be picked for the job, I become more comfortable and my personal brand started to really stick.

I also think it helped me make it successfully through my interviews.  On the interview visit to the company for which I will be working, I was one of 12 candidates, and at the end of the day, despite the little time I had spent with each of the managers and recruiters, a number of them specifically remembered me as the “generator.”

As Frank Lane taught us, effective and “sticky” personal branding not only can make you stand out from the crowd to employers and recruiters, but may also increase your job security by communicating your value as a leader and team player to your organization.