Building a Personal Brand That Gets You Hired

I want to tell you something that most career advice gets wrong.

Your resume is not your brand. Your job title is not your brand. Your LinkedIn headline is not your brand.

Your personal brand is the reputation that precedes you. It is what people say about you when you are not in the room. And in a world where hiring managers, recruiters, and potential business partners are searching for you online before they ever pick up the phone, that brand matters more than it ever has.

I have seen this from both sides. As a recruiter, I look at candidates' online presence every single day. And as someone who built a personal brand -- "Laz the Job Guy" did not happen by accident -- I can tell you that being intentional about how you show up professionally changes everything.

You do not need a million followers. You need the right 500 people to know exactly what you bring to the table.

Start Where People Are Already Looking: LinkedIn

Let's be practical. If you are a professional, LinkedIn is where your brand lives or dies. It is the first place recruiters search. It is where hiring managers look after reviewing your resume.

Your Profile Photo

This is the simplest thing you can fix today. You need a clear, professional headshot where you look approachable. Profiles with a photo get significantly more profile views than those without one. It is the easiest win you will ever get.

Your Headline

Your headline is not your job title. It is your value proposition. Compare these two:

• "Senior Accountant at XYZ Corp"
• "Senior Accountant | Helping growing companies build financial systems that scale"

The first one tells me where you work. The second one tells me what you are good at.

Your About Section

Write your About section the way you would introduce yourself at a professional event. First person. Conversational. Specific about what you do and who you help.

Being Visible Is Not Optional Anymore

Having a polished profile is step one. But a profile is a static document. To build an actual brand, you need to be active. Once or twice a week is enough if you are thoughtful about it.

What to Share

• Share what you are learning. Read an interesting industry article? Share it with a sentence about why it matters.
• Share what you know. A tip, a lesson, a common mistake you see in your field.
• Share your perspective on industry trends. Disagree with a common practice? Talk about it.
• Celebrate others. Congratulate a colleague on a win. This is generous and builds relationships.

Engage, Do Not Just Broadcast

Posting content is only half the equation. The other half is engaging with other people's content.

When you leave a thoughtful comment on someone's post, three things happen. The person notices you. Their audience sees your perspective. And the algorithm shows your profile to more people.

The Long Game

Here is what I want you to understand about personal branding: it is not a weekend project. It is a practice. Something you do a little bit at a time, consistently, over months and years.

Six months from now, if you have been showing up regularly, sharing useful insights, and engaging with your network, you will notice something different. Recruiters will reach out more often. Opportunities will come to you instead of you having to chase them.

That is the power of a personal brand. It works for you even when you are not actively looking.