What is your career portfolio like?

 

This summer in the UK saw a new move by the agents and PR staff for a UK soccer player Michael Owen - A 32 page Personal Brand Portfolio!

Owen was being released by his then soccer club, Newcastle United and was looking for a new home - ideally in the UK Premier league. The UK sports press was not very complimentary about his chances as he had a recent history of injuries and poor performance that did not warrant his then $250,000 a week salary!

His 'people' put together a very glossy, 32 page. portfolio brochure addressing these concerns and also highlighting such positive aspects as his Brand Values. You can see the brochure by clicking here.

Having come from the UK, I know the general reaction and approach to personal branding is a little more reserved than here in North America - but overall I think that Owen has done a good job. After all it got the biggest soccer club in the world, Manchester United, interested enough to sign him.

Naturally it remains to be seen if the club have made a shrewd investment. But in the meantime - are you doing enough to promote the value of an investment in you?

Take a moment to look at Owens portfolio and take the pieces that you like and see what you can put together for your career.

This type of online or electronic document is something professionals should be seriously considering as a way to differentiate themselves in a market that will continue to be tough, but full of opportunities to those prepared to take a little bit of a risk.

When I was in recruitment many years ago in the UK it was unusual not to see the best interview candidates with some form of portfolio or brag sheet - it made them memorable.

What are you doing to be memorable when your company is looking to make that next promotion?

Comments

[cassytanady]

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[Sital]

Great post Paul

One further point is that this brand statement made Micheal Owen 'remarkable' as Seth Godin would say (ie worth making a remark about) and created further marketing for him.

When this brand statement was published and sent to the top clubs across Europe at the start of the summer, all the UK newspapers, sports channels and radio phone in shows were talking about the brand statement and Owen - that after being out of the headlines for the last 2-3 years.

Given that soccer coaches and agents read, watch and listen to the sports media - the brand statement created a viral effect well beyond the initial distribution to target clubs and made him stand out in noisy market. And as you say, secure a shock move to the biggest club in the world.

Now there's a lesson....

[Paul Copcutt]

Thanks Cassy, glad you liked the post and the blog - there are some great contributors here so come back often.

Great point Sital - the key to an effective brand statement is to make it authentic and memorable. What I also liked about Owens brand portfolio was that he considered his target audience - printing in Italian and Spainish - the other two premier leagues he was interested in playing for - very smart branding.

[Tony Johnston]

Paul, I think your concept of having a personal brag sheet is outstanding. It's a great way to help clarify and promote 'you the brand' as a problem solver. For Michael Owen, it was clear that if you had a team needing goals scored, Michael could and would do a great job both scoring and promoting the club as well. While people may want to use more politically correct but vapid language, calling their brag sheet their 'Profile', something to consider is having one that uniquely spins your accomplishments in appropriate ways for each type of role or job you might be after. Now getting the wording right is really important in my opinion - but of course, that is where you, Paul Copcutt, come in with the services you offer!

[Paul Copcutt]

Thanks Tony, I know that a personal brand brag sheet is a true stand out document because next to no-one is using one. Your idea of customizing the document makes absolute sense too.

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