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7 Personal Branding Strategies That Will Advance Your Career A great way to differentiate yourself in the workplace is to “Brand” yourself as an effective, reliable, trustworthy, and hard-working professional. It’s about more than being productive—it’s about building a reputation as someone who gets things done, can be relied upon and who is considerate of others’ time and effort. You might not consider your attitude, your interpersonal skills, or even your conduct as factors of productivity, but they are important considerations for employers. Branding yourself as an effective and professional employee can be a significant advantage in advancing your career, regardless of whether you have the most experience, or the most talent: you can ensure that you’re recognized as being one of the most dependable candidates out there. Best Practices for Professional Branding 1. Respond to voice-mail in a timely manner This might seem awfully basic, but if somebody leaves you a message, return it. Call back or send an email—whichever you prefer—just as long as you do it within an acceptable time frame (24 hours is fine, or a few days at the most.) Respond even if you don’t have the answer: it’s better to admit that you don’t know something than to ignore the message. 2. Leave an effective message This should actually be part of the first tip, but phone tag is so annoying that it deserves its own section. The typical “call me back,” message is not effective. Instead, explain the reason for your call, what you need in return, and the best time to call back. This allows the recipient to gather the information for the return call and leave a response if necessary, thus avoiding the unnecessary back-and-forth exchange. | 
