Fearing Downsizing at Your Firm? How to Use Your LinkedIn Presence and Brand to Save Your Career

Everywhere you look in today’s economy, there are more and more layoffs. It seems like we are in a culture of downsizing. Has this affected you? As a bystander and business owner, my focus is on building the brands of busy executives and entrepreneurs. I have witnessed this over and over again. I think that it is time that somebody addressed this and provided some tactical advice from the inside out.For those of you that are currently employed, whether that is by big pharma, a large bank, a major real estate company, or a funded tech startup and have any concerns or worries about layoffs: pay attention.As microscopic as it sounds, it all starts with your Linkedin Profile. If you have had any internal mandates recently to follow company rules about messaging on your LinkedIn profile and wondered, “Why do I need to do this?”, you are not alone.It may be at this point that you begin to think that you might just be a robot. Depending on the company you work for, you could be right (just kidding). But seriously, if you have any second thoughts about your commitment to your company because you see internal changes happening fast, reviewing your LinkedIn Profile is very smart.Related: How Financial Advisors Can Stand Out and Close More Business through Powerful Personal Branding Related: What You Need to Know About Protecting Your Personal Brand Reputation Again, we are in a culture of downsizing. In the last month, I have had my best friend from my IBM and three of my good friends from grad school reach out to me on LinkedIn. Why? Because after a few messages and phone calls, I learned that all of them were out of jobs and they wanted my help.When I asked what happened, there was almost a unanimous story: the companies were downsizing. Not just laying off thousands of workers, but some just because their executives had run out of money. The point is downsizing effects you whether you are at a startup or a major corporation. It is your job to be aware of your future career at any current employer. So what can you do about it?In this type of unstable economic global environment with heavy competition and rising prices everywhere, the only way to truly safeguard yourself is to build value around your chosen career path and your skills. To start, think about what it is about yourself that really stands apart from others in terms of your professional strengths.Most of the clients that I have worked with in the area of Personal Brand Development and Social Media, are generally seasoned executives with many years of experience. They come from large companies with teams of very smart capable people. When they are downsized, many times they are left with a hard thought process about their next steps.This is the point where introspection on skill sets and experience is critical. Just because you may be yet another financial advisor or healthcare executive, that NEVER means that you are just another financial advisor or healthcare executive. You are unique. We teach this at my #BRANDYOU Conference (next up late 2019). Think about if you came from finance or healthcare and your company was downsized or your tech startup failed.You want to ask yourself these questions:

How did you serve your clients differently than someone else?

How did you deliver innovation in a financial (or your industry) product set that changed the way your client did business?

Can you quantify your achievements in such a way that people would be compelled to work with you?

Were you ever tasked to lead a team and why did you receive that responsibility?

Were there any internal unique initiatives where you were a key player and why?

These are just some of the questions you can answer so that you can start to shape a unique personal brand that you can utilize to either eventually become an entrepreneur, become a more successful entrepreneur, or an executive at a company in an industry that you truly love.Just like you had a plan to go to school and get a job, you need to have a plan in this unstable economy to build up the monetary value of your own position. Whether that is to lead your own business or to work for someone else. What I have provided here are there initial building blocks for creating that brand.To help you out, here is a link to my free Personal Branding Action Plan that you will get you on the right track. In my next post, I will detail specific executive personal branding client stories on how they did it and moved on to success. If you are interested in learning more about what my team at JS Media and I do in launching successful personal brands online and offline, contact me for an initial discussion