You work hard for your money. You feel good when you walk out the front door of your office building at the end of the day. But where are you going? What are you doing? Family? Tee-ball game? Leaves to rake? Impacting your community?
I hope you answered yes to the last question as it may reap the most rewards for you in the long run when looking at your career. Scott Herrick at Cube Rules says that performance and accomplishments external to your company trump your current job performance. Don’t get up from your cubicle just yet. Performing both inside and outside of your company are big deals but if you decide to leave your job most employers will only comment on your length of tenure and nothing more.
Having a solid résumé is key but your name ringing throughout the community for the good deeds you’ve done may be more helpful. Start thinking about the hard goals you want to achieve in your community to begin building your personal brand.
Photography by ucantblamem
Comments 3
Interestingly, I wrote accomplishments for outside the company as meaning that your job performance needs to be oriented to accomplishments as compared to internal ratings for inside the company. Hiring managers want lists of what you accomplished in your previous positions — that’s the “outside” the company audience.
Having said that, this post is a very good addition to what I was thinking. Your community activities are not only rewarding, but also offer another layer of support, networking, and job opportunities.
Great post!
Scott, thanks for reading our fresh new blog. When I wrote the article I was looking through another color of glass. However, now that I’ve read your comment, hopefully my piece here is another way for folks to look at their personal brand. Best of luck and keep up the great work over at Cube Rules.
-CP
This is a great way to think about it CP.
I’d like to mention this definitive guide to writing a great resume for a more traditional and comprehensive guide to building a resume if you don’t mind. I think it complements this article well.