According to Hakim, who is an outspoken critic of feminist theory, the six elements of erotic capital: beauty, sexual attractiveness, social skills, liveliness, presentation, and sexuality, have become just as important as educational qualifications and good old-fashioned hard work, in the labour market.

Whilst both sexes have it, Hakim says women are much better placed to exploit their erotic capital than men in the sexualised culture of affluent western societies¹. However, research out of the United States suggests that rather than being an advantage for women, erotic capital can actually count against you when applying for more senior roles or “masculine” jobs.

In a study published in the Journal of Social Psychology, Stefanie Johnson, assistant professor of management at University of Colorado Denver Business School and her colleagues, found that beauty does have a downside, at least for women.

The study, co-authored by Robert Dipboye, professor of psychology at the University of Central Florida, Kenneth Podratz, an organizational development manager at UPS and Ellie Gibbons, research assistant at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, found that attractive women were discriminated against when applying for jobs considered “masculine” and for which appearance was not seen as important to the job. Such positions included titles like manager of research and development, director of finance, mechanical engineer and construction supervisor.

“In these professions being attractive was highly detrimental to women,” Johnson said. “In every other kind of job, attractive women were preferred. This wasn’t the case with men which shows that there is still a double standard when it comes to gender.”

“In two studies, we found that attractiveness is beneficial for men and women applying for most jobs, in terms of ratings of employment suitability. However, attractiveness was more beneficial for women applying for feminine sex-typed jobs than masculine sex-typed jobs.”

So can we conclude then that erotic capital becomes most important when applying for the “girly” jobs in an organisation and if so, at what point in her career would a woman be wise to tone it down?

According to Hakim, erotic capital can best be utilised working in the private sector where the beautiful people can expect to earn 10% – 15% more than their average looking colleagues². But does it really make sense for any organisation to put beauty before brains?

If Hakim is right and the private sector are actually making hiring decisions based on erotic capital rather than merit, then maybe instead of just accepting it and learning how to ‘sex it up’ at work, we’d be wise to level the playing field between the haves and have nots.

Linda Curtis, designer and development manager at NNT uniforms, the company that supplies uniforms to Queensland Health, Qantas, Jetstar and all the major Australian banks, says that attractive work attire can have an impact on perception and performance in the workplace. But a professional wardrobe can also level the playing field between those who have erotic capital and those who do not.

“More and more women are becoming very successful and this has nothing to do with the way they look and I think that’s why being in a uniform or having corporate attire that is supplied to you, makes it easier to have that level playing field,” she said.

In a recent survey of working Australians conducted by NNT, 95% agreed that what they wear to work impacts on the business image and results, and 72% said that if they look good, they are more positive at work.

“We like to call it a ‘wardrobe’ rather than a uniform. A corporate wardrobe is less competitive and for some people it gives them the opportunity to wear high quality clothing they wouldn’t ordinarily be able to afford,” said Curtis.

“Our business is about the image of the actual organisation. But we give staff a selection of different trousers and tops to choose from which fit in with the image of the business and we also can give the person the opportunity to individualise their wardrobe.”

References
1. Catherine Hakim: She’s counting up erotic capital, accessed at timesonline.co.uk, 23 August 2010.
2. Forget talent or hard work, erotic capital is the key to success, accessed at www.guardian.co.uk, 23 August 2010.

Fiona Webster, Head of Career Coaching & Outplacement at recruitment & HR services company, Randstad, believes we need to treat work more like a relationship to see its positive benefits.

If you were asked to rate ‘love’ and ‘work’ on life’s happiness barometer, it would be rare to find them on the same scale, but think about the 168 hours there are in a week and how many of those you spend working. So learning to love your day job is vital to achieving a happy balance both at and away from the office.

It takes two
Like love, work is a two-way street, if you don’t feel satisfied about what you’re getting out of your role, then it might pay to give more to your day-to-day activities. Sometimes, ‘you only get out what you put in’ and thinking of ways to improve your basic daily tasks can give you more satisfaction and provide more value to those around you. In the same way, contributing more to your team or getting involved in social activities at work might hold the key to a healthier two-way relationship in 2010.

Openness and honesty
Like a relationship, employees should be in regular communication with their team and management, not just to know what’s happening on particular projects but to form good habits so that when issues or challenges arise, they can be addressed, discussed and dealt with in a timely, mature manner. If something is annoying you or you want to give positive feedback, it’s a whole lot easier with open lines of communication. Trust and empathy go a long way in building positive, long-term connections with people to help carry you through good times and bad.

Good Sense of Humour
Make time to laugh with people who you work with – the physical and emotional benefits of laughter are overwhelming – it reduces stress, relaxes your body and boosts your immune system, not to mention the effect it has on positivity and productivity levels in the workplace. Laughter can shatter tension, lift the spirit of a group and break the ice in difficult situations.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Australians are renowned for building up annual leave – the most recent Roy Morgan research, released in December 2008, shows Australia has 123 million days of leave built up. Not taking ‘time out’ often leads to stress and finding yourself bogged down in the little things.

For many employees, a short break can really improve motivation levels and helps us remember what it is we love and miss about our work – whether it be a sense of achievement, purpose or the people around us.

Taking time out to rebalance and re-energise also gives you a fresh, clear and healthy perspective on who you are, what you want to do and what you want to achieve. Generally any niggly things that may have been annoying you will soon dissipate after a well-earned break and it can result in a new found love for your job.

Getting the spark back
A great way to feel inspired about work again is through learning and developing new skills. A new area of interest or the motivation to progress your position by adding another notch to your skills belt is a great way to breathe new life into your attitude and energy in the workplace. Knowing you have a new stream of learning can really help you reignite the passion you once had for what you do. It can also make your day-to-day job easier, saving you time and boosting your productivity.

Look back on your achievements, celebrate positive milestones and map out new goals, as this can be refreshing and energising for you, rather than feeling like you are treading the same path, hoping that something interesting will happen. Think about how you would like your daily work to look, and start to create something that is meaningful and enjoyable every day.

Work may not always be smooth sailing and, like a relationship, it may require a little extra effort at times but with challenges come growth, satisfaction and a healthy relationship which can be deeply rewarding.

For more information visit www.randstad.com.au

Randstad is a Fortune 500 Company and the second largest HR services provider in the world, specialising in executive recruitment, HR Solutions, inhouse services and temporary and permanent staffing across a wide range of specialist industry sectors and professions.

The government in its wisdom has raised the retirement age, I am retired already so it does not affect me. However, I have many friends over 60, competent women and men who cannot get jobs! It does not matter what the government says, employers will NOT employ older staff – its just a fact of life!

They will not hire older workers and yet they complain about the young ones not working correctly while they do not even give an older worker the opportunity to work. If older people cannot get work then they may as well have left the retirement age at 60, as those who of that age – and there are 100′s – are surviving on New Start and working 15hrs a week in op shops! They may as well be on a pension and put our employment figures where they should really be.

Submitted by: Barbara-Louisa Walker

Please submit your ‘letters to the editor’ by email to editor@australianwomenonline.com

For the young and ambitious, the office Christmas party provides the perfect opportunity to network with those who can give you a leg up on the corporate ladder. But whether you’re there to work the room, or just want to have fun, never forget you’re still at work and as such, all the usual rules still apply.

Dominic Thurbon, leading authority on Gen Y from the Centre for Skills Development and a Gen Y himself, has 10 tips for his peers on how to make a Christmas party work for them.

Dominic Thurbon’s Ten Tips for Gen Y to work the Christmas party to get ahead are:

1. Have a plan and make it work
There are two main objectives. One is to have a good time and celebrate – let’s not forget it is a party! The
second is to meet people and network in a relaxed environment.

2. Work the room
Do it like you’re not working it at all. In organisations where senior management is dominated by Xers and
Boomers, there can sometimes be unfair perceptions about younger people at work. You do yourself no favours if you’re fake. Stick to genuine conversation and show interest in other people.

3. Warm into networking
Start with friends, then move to people in the extended network. During that ‘enough drinks to be loosened
up but still coherent’ phase, that’s when you should look to talk with key people. View the party as introductory time, not as ‘I’m getting my pay rise in the next twenty minutes’ time.

4. Small talk leaves a lasting impression
Making small talk is the key to good networking. The most important advice is to listen. Resist the ‘pressure of speech’ – the tendency to speak rapidly and frenziedly. When in doubt, ask a question rather than launching into a story. Listen closely and ask intelligent questions. It is always better to be interested than act interested. The
people we rate as ‘most interesting’ or ‘nicest’ are those who usually listen the most.

Make the introduction, be charming enough to be remembered, find a common point of interest and move
on when appropriate. Then look for later opportunities to reconnect. Whether it is your field of expertise or
just a hobby, go with what you know and be passionate about it. Topics to be avoided are politics, religion
and office gossip.

5. The rules still rule
Just because it is after hours or offsite, the regular rules still apply. You’re still an employee and you still
have a boss. Trust that has taken years to build can be lost in seconds because of a single incident.

6. Tone it down
Gen Ys often think they have to be the life of the party, but they don’t. At a client party you obviously have to
be on your best behaviour and to turn it down a notch further. And while it might seem a good idea to take advantage of the mistletoe and smooch your offie crush, think again as you might never live it down!

7. To drink or not to drink?
It should probably go without saying that you should avoid getting drunk. The tough reality for the office party is that there is so much pressure to drink that people wind up doing things they otherwise wouldn’t. While saying no altogether might prove to be hard, it is a party after all, a good rule of thumb is not to say yes too often!

8. Getting yourself out of trouble
If you do find yourself drunkenly fusing Flashdance with MC Hammer, or stumbling into an uncomfortable insult, there are three simple steps for trying to recover; acknowledge, apologise and move on. By this I mean, acknowledge your blunder, then apologise and move on by changing the subject or beating a hasty retreat.

If all else fails, go directly to step three! Best thing about the Christmas party is some people will forget over the two week holiday.

9. Don’t overdress to impress
The first consideration in what to wear is personal comfort. The second is the advertised dress code. If it says casual, go casual. If it says black tie, suck it up and sweat with the rest of the penguins. However, every ensemble should have a personal touch – a dash of je ne se qua; something to mark you out, however as a general rule novelty reindeer horns are a bad idea because they are, to be honest, stupid!

10. Stay motivated at work through the Christmas party season
For some – particularly in industries that get quiet around Christmas – this can be a real problem. The best way is to acknowledge motivation is low and find ways of integrating fun activities into your workflow. Do something a little wacky each day but limit it to about ten minutes. That way you get it out of your system and can still get down to work.

Social researcher Mark McCrindle explains, “Potentialists are the one in five Australians who demonstrate a clear ambition to live a rounder life – one that mixes traditional career success with a refreshing appetite for new experiences. They are looking to make more of what they have, rather than always wanting more and display an optimistic attitude that has previously been most associated with Generation Y.”

“They are moving away from status purchases, such as designer items and lavish dinners, to investing their time and money into activities that offer personal enrichment, such as new skills and hobbies. When making a purchase ‐ whether it is technology, travel or entertainment ‐ people want the added bonus of an enriching and often educational benefit.”

When the GFC hit our shores in the later part of 2008, many Australians were forced to work fewer hours or to take annual leave. For many it was an opportunity to re-evaluate their lives and to find out what was really important to them.

Mark McCrindle told Australian Women Online, “The term Global Financial Optimism sums it up because these are the people who don’t think crisis, they think opportunity and optimism.”

According to Mark McCrindle signs of the trend have been growing for years, but it took an economic downturn to force so many to re-evaluate their lives.

As a result of the GFC four out of five Australians say they have re‐evaluated what is important to them and nearly two in three are more determined than ever to live life to the full. This growing desire for fulfilment can be seen with just under half of Australians citing they would like to discover a new skill, while more than a third would like to tap into their talent or explore their artistic or creative potential.

The American Express Social Insights Report found that while more than half of Australians reported wanting to spend more time enjoying a hobby, Potentialists aim to take it one step further and are turning their hobbies into a part‐time career.

“Working from home is one of the key drivers of what we call the ‘hobby-preneurs’,” said Mark McCrindle. “Turning a hobby into a business is a way of having it all – of fulfilling your potential and turning something you really enjoy doing into an income earner.”

The study also found that Potentialists are not constrained by typical demographics. They are both men and women and they are not defined by age or income. While strongly represented in the 30 to 34 age group, they are just as likely to be in their late 40s or early 50s.

When it comes to location, the research showed that Potentialists are most likely to reside in Brisbane which had the highest proportion of those who fit the Potentialist personality type, followed by Melbourne and Perth. Despite having the largest population of any city in Australia, Sydney only managed to rank fourth among the capitals.

Mark McCrindle explains, “Sydney is a global city and it is the business capital of Australia. It’s where people are based in the head office and where they are more likely to be focused on their careers. Those who are more attune to the work/life balance and looking for a sea-change, have already made such a shift and so I guess you’d say Sydney is a little more hard-bitten when it comes to the old hard work approach.”

The American Express Social Insights Report revealed that over half of all Australians would like to develop a better work‐life balance, but it is the Potentialists who have evolved the traditional notion of work‐life balance in this country. The Potentialist is nearly twice as likely as the rest of the population to define work‐life balance as variety, rather than working less. These people will actually change the structure of their work to achieve success in other interests, rather than just using their weekends or after work hours.

“The ABS has been tracking the growth in multiple job holders and there are more people in Australia who have more than one job than ever before. It’s not so much that people are wanting to work less hours, as much as they’re wanting control of their hours and wanting to take charge of their work life and multiple jobs allow people to do that.”

“The working from home hobbists are still working full-time roles and then running the hobby on the side. So again, it’s not that they don’t want to work, they’re prepared to work harder but they just want to enjoy their work and they want variety in their role.”

When it comes to work/life balance, Mark McCrindle says employers are much more receptive to flexible work practices than they use to be.

“Over the last decade we’ve seen a lot of companies working hard to engage with their staff to provide flexible work practices such as, different work schedules and transfers to different areas, just so that staff can have the variety.”

“We’re seeing companies offer more training and not just work skills training, but sending employees to motivational courses and providing personal coaches, life coaches, personal development books and that sort of thing. This is all part of the Potentialist trend and employers have realised to have a good employer brand, they really need to engage with this group and offer them more than just a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.”

“We are also seeing a lot of senior leaders not wanting to model that 60 hour week behaviour and actually saying look, we need to respect our staff and respect their health and their families and their relationships, so we’re not going to model or encourage extreme work practices.”

Corrina Davison, Vice President of Brand, Loyalty and Rewards, from American Express adds, “We now have a better understanding of the impact of the GFC and it is clear people want a rounder life, mixing career with hobbies and new experiences. We are seeing this with the increasing number of employees taking up volunteering opportunities at work and making the most of flexible work arrangements so they have the time to follow their passions.”

American Express will be holding a three day festival of potential from 3 – 5 December 2009 on Pyrmont Bridge (at the swing bridge over Cockle Bay) in Sydney. The festival will include a major community art project that will give people the opportunity to explore their inner artist and help others in the community to realise their potential.

American Express is also giving readers of Australian Women Online, the opportunity to realise their potential with a Red Balloon voucher – click here for details on how to enter.

Photo credit: tomas del amo – Fotolia.com

The EOWA’s Business Achievement Awards recognises those organisations that provide excellent workplace initiatives and conditions, as well as individual leaders who are setting the scene for diversity and the advancement of women in their workplaces.

Initiatives from the organisations shortlisted for a 2009 BAA include the following:

AstraZeneca provides a school vacation care program that is run for two weeks during each school holiday period. The program provides a solution for parents in the shortfall between 12 weeks school holidays each year and the four weeks of staff annual leave.

PepsiCo has successfully implemented a Work Life Quality program. The linking of key performance indicators to managers’ pay and performance evaluations ensures work life quality is a way of life at PepsiCo, and has resulted in a 50% reduction in voluntary employee turnover.

INENCO has initiated a series of Women’s Forums at its operations around Australia to promote consultation, individual development, and support career growth. These forums have fostered a mentoring program for women and have led to an acceleration in career paths for women.

Johnson & Johnson Medical provides three months paid parental leave and offers employees the opportunity to retain their company mobile and laptop so they can remain connected with the business. Employees on parental leave are invited to attend company events and meetings with their child and the company subsidises travel costs for the employee, their child and a carer.

Michael Luscombe, CEO of Woolworths has continued his support of targeted and specific initiatives focused on increasing the levels of women in management and which has resulted in a significant improvement in the proportion of women executives from 16.7% in 2004 to 27.0% 2009.

Professor Mandy Thomas, Australian National University supports the Academic Women’s Advancement Fund, which finances a gender issues group, a quality time fund, a mentoring program for women and a women’s writing workshop. She has also developed an Equity Project Office and a Carer’s Career Development Assistance Fund which assists staff with caring responsibilities to attend major national and overseas conferences and seminars.

The BAA awards ceremony will be held at Dockside in Sydney on November 11th. The Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya Plibersek will address the 400 attendees and Giam Swiegers CEO of Deloitte will deliver the keynote address.

The winners are selected by an independent judging panel comprising Barbara Pocock – Director of the Centre for Work + Life at the University of South Australia, Sally Moyle from the Australian Government Office for Women, and Mark Goodsell – Director NSW Branch of the Australian Industry Group.

EOWA’s 2009 Business Achievement Awards are sponsored by Australian Industry Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Exxon Mobil Australia Pty Ltd, Freehills, IBM, the Australian Government Office for Women, and are supported by Suited for Work.

EOWA is a Federal Government statutory authority which administers the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act (1999). Employers of 100 people or more are required to report to the Agency on the initiatives they take within their organisations to advance women in the workplace. EOWA works with employers to improve equal opportunity outcomes for women in Australian workplaces.

For more information visit the website www.eowa.gov.au

Related Article
EOWA announces winners of Equal Opportunity Awards 2009

With redundancy comes opportunity, many professionals will secure new work and will need to learn once again how to shine as the ‘new recruit’. James Nicholson, Managing Director of Robert Walters Australia offers some advice on how to survive a new job and inevitably, a new boss.

One of the most exciting challenges in a professional’s career is starting a new job but this can also be a very stressful and demanding time. Professionals must realise that the job will never be exactly as they expected although if you anticipate the challenges ahead, your transition can be much smoother. A new job means new relationships, new ways of doing things and new expectations.

Not only has your workplace changed but so has your boss. Many professionals will say that adjusting to a new boss is the hardest part about starting a new job; others will feel it to be the easiest. In order to ensure your new role starts well, it’s important that you let go of your old boss and accept that your new boss will have new priorities, a new focus and almost certainly, a new way of doing things.

It is important to figure out the communication style of your new boss, find out how they like to work and how they like things done. Be proactive and initiate a meeting with your new boss to discuss how they like to work and then adapt. This will help you get an understanding of what is expected of you and help set clear expectations.

Working under a new boss can be challenging, however it is an experience that should be embraced. Learn everything you can from the experience, try and empathise with the boss’ situation, this will ease the transition for you both. Ultimately it is just as important for you to manage your new boss, as it is for them to manage you. And remember – it’s up to the both of you to make the relationship work.

Robert Walters is a leading global recruitment consultancy, specialising in placing high calibre professionals into permanent, contract and temporary positions at all levels. For more information visit the website www.robertwalters.com.au

Source: Robert Walters

New Zealand journalist and author of the new book, Because We’re Worth It: A ‘where to from here’ for today’s working mother, Gill South (pictured), says in the current economic climate, nobody wants to be seen as a ‘problem worker’, especially those who have families to support.

When researching for her book, she interviewed dozens of working mothers in Australia and New Zealand, including yours truly. Gill South told Australian Women Online, “A hundred percent of the women I interviewed really enjoyed their work. There were times when it’s really hard getting it all to work, but they enjoyed the work enough to keep trying. A lot of us enjoyed our careers before kids, so why on earth should we stop them after having children?”

According to Gill South, the demands of the current generation of working parents are being squeezed out by those of the Baby Boomers and Generation Y. “The baby boomers have already paid off their mortgages and are looking for a more flexible lifestyle and Generation Y are generally more assertive and they don’t have all these responsibilities.”

“The difficulty for working mothers is they have more to lose if they are seen as a ‘problem worker’ whose always demanding and asking for change – wanting more money and less hours,” she said. “I’d love to see women being more confident in the workplace – having more confidence when negotiating about how they want their work-life to function. But a lot of women are still fearful about asking for more flexibility.”

We want to be good wives and mothers, we also want fulfilling careers, but is it really possible to have both at the same time? With the ever-increasing work day and our reluctance to ask for help when we need it, the current generation of working mothers are utterly exhausted.

“I would also like to see women not trying to martyr themselves and do everything for their family – to get more help. And this might be just having a teenager come and help clean the house, or for women to actually be a bit selfish and actually do some things just for themselves,” said Gill.

Of course for many women, working outside the home has become more of a necessity, than a matter of personal choice. Most families find it difficult to survive on just one wage and with half of all marriages ending in divorce, more women are finding themselves in the position of having to work to provide for their children.

But as Gill South demonstrates in her book, when times get tough, working mothers are coming up with some surprisingly creative solutions to these challenges.

It is also important for working mums to remember that no-one succeeds alone. If you look at the lives of successful people, you’ll find a number of supporters who have helped these individuals to realise their dreams.

“There is your partner, the grandparents, friends of the family and neighbours who can all help out with the children. My kids love having other people in the house. There’s a seventeen year old boy up the road who plays cricket with them during the holidays and they absolutely adore him,” said Gill.

One of my favourite discussions in the book focuses on ‘the late bloomers’ – women who have delayed climbing the career ladder until after they have finished raising their children. One of the advantages of living longer is women today don’t necessarily have to do it all at once.

Gill also spoke to the partners and the children of mothers who work. My two sons were amongst the children interviewed for her book. Gill said, “When I was talking to Cameron he was talking about how you had more child friendly jobs when they were younger and he seemed to recognise that you had made sacrifices so you could be around for them.”

“Remember we’ll be working into our seventies so there’s plenty of time.”

Because We’re Worth It: A ‘where to from here’ for today’s working mother by Gill South, is published by Penguin and is available now at bookstores across Australia and New Zealand for $35 rrp.

For more information about the author Gill South, visit her website www.gillsouth.com

BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE
Australian retailers:
SeekBooks.com.au for AU$31.50
QBD The Bookshop for AU$35.00

Of the 788 respondents surveyed, 62 per cent had been bullied and 29 per cent had been sexually harassed. Most of the respondents who had been bullied (59 per cent) or sexually harassed (74 per cent) didn’t report the incident.

Kate Southam, editor of CareerOne.com.au said workers could find themselves more vulnerable in this cost cutting climate.

“In the current climate where thousands of jobs are being slashed, employers have more power and workers suffering poor conditions such as bullying fear losing their job if they complain,” said Ms Southam. “Redundancies also create greater workloads for those left behind adding to the stress already caused by the challenging economic conditions. Poorly trained managers who can’t cope can resort to bullying.”

The survey conducted by CareerOne.com.au in partnership with CoreData, also found:

• 37 per cent of those who had been sexually harassed at work were women compared to the 19 per cent who were men.

• Most (77 per cent) of those who had been sexually harassed at work were sexually harassed by someone at a more senior level.

• Of the respondents who had reported being bullied, 64 per cent were female and 60 per cent were male.

• Most (74 per cent) respondents were bullied by a person who held a more senior position.

“Employers that turn a blind eye to bad behaviour at work are failing to realise how much bullying and sexual harassment is costing them in lost productivity and staff loyalty,” said Kate Southam.

“Not only is the target of the bullying and/or harassment focused on what is going on instead of on their work, so is the perpetrator and their respective support groups. Bullying also silences people so employers are only hearing one set of ideas – and they may not be the best ones.”

Ms Southam added, “Such employers also risk litigation and damaging their reputation with potential future employees and clients. Tolerating bullying and harassment is just bad business practice.”

“Some traditionalist bosses see the Brand You notion as institutionalized disloyalty. In my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth. Brand You is about people profoundly committed to personal growth — and it goes without saying [I think] that people committed to growth are by far the most engaged and valuable employees.” ~ Tom Peters

Referencing Daniel Pink, we live in the information age and are moving into the conceptual age, where we transition in and out of new jobs and careers more readily than ever before. As technology continues to evolve, offering us new media and social networking sites to promote ourselves and our expertise, not everyone is embracing this at the executive and senior professional levels – yet!

What is Personal Branding?
Tom Peters is the founder of Personal Branding, which I believe should form a part of every working person’s career strategy, including executives and senior professionals. If you have not read Tom’s article ‘Brand You’ I highly recommend it – it is an old one but a good one!

Our personal brand is about how we are seen by those who know us and how we are remembered by those we meet. It is how we package ourselves up online and offline to be viewed and remembered by the world. We have the ability to control what and how our personal brand is remembered. Our alternative is to let others create it for us and/or to rely on our employer to define it.

Personal Branding Goes Beyond Networking
In the past we relied heavily on our personal networks and still do and will continue to. Our networks offline are limited and don’t reach globally. We are seeing more and more people embrace social networking sites and services such as Twitter, which have the capability to expose your personal brand globally. It is not enough that a few friends or colleagues know your specialization; you have to be out there sharing it with the world, writing about it on your blog, in relevant forums, publishing your works. It is about creating conversations about your expertise beyond your immediate sphere or reference. Are you comfortable doing this? Chances are, like most of us, you are not.

Just as most of us avoid or require a lot of courage to network at an event, similarly you have to pluck up the courage and get over there and participate in the conversation and hope you have something worthwhile to say. Yes, online networking is pretty much similar to offline networking except you don’t need to leave the house or office; however, it brings its own challenges. You need to learn the rules, you need to participate and be prepared for others to disagree with what you have to say. Most of all, you need to make a commitment to managing your personal brand and ultimately your career.

Some of you may be thinking, well I have my old school networks and I am sorted. To a certain degree this will assist you, however not as it once did – it forms only a small part of the successful person’s branding strategy.

Separating Your Personal Brand from Where You Work
For many of us, we struggle to define our brand beyond the company we work for and the job titles we hold. What you do will no doubt form a part of your personal brand, but who you work for is not so relevant anymore. The danger people face is being comfortable in their job and with their employer and as a result failing to carve out any niche or reputation for themselves beyond their current employer. Being proud of where you work and what you do is great; however, what happens when the company no longer exists or needs to downsize? What happens when you go and look for a new job and the companies you are looking at don’t know or care about where you last worked? – they actually just want to know what is your unique selling proposition (USP) and how can this benefit them and their business.

Today the majority of recruiters and hiring professionals do a Google search on those they look to interview, with figures quoted between 50%-80%. Notice that they are searching on your name, not your employer’s name, which I think says it all.

In the past, having a few ‘perceived’ good employer names on your resume opened doors. Today the weight employer brand names hold is diminishing – your personal brand now supersedes all these things. As a 21st century worker in the information and conceptual age, personal brand management is integral to your career success. It opens doors and ensures that you are always employable and employed and that you are not reliant on the decisions of others for your financial and personal career satisfaction.

About the Writer
Kelly Magowan is co-founder and CEO of Six Figures and www.sixfiguresinternational.com the premium job site for $100K+ job and contracts across the globe. Kelly’s 12 years experience working across HR, Recruitment & Career Coaching has provided her with a solid understanding of what the job market looks like, what employers look for and the common experiences and challenges they face.