That kind of career has now retired. Employers no longer want you for life. But they still need you — perhaps more than ever. 90% of the fastest growing businesses in the UK say they face skills shortages (Octopus HGSBR 2018). Vast new territories of the job market are opening up, within which you’re free to be and do what you want, as long as it meets a need. Great, but how do you even begin to build a relevant and rewarding career from scratch? This is where the curious art of branding comes into play.

A career needs an idea

It was 2008, in a West London Costa (or was it Pret?) when brand consultant Rachael Dinnis casually nailed the idea that has shaped my career:

“So, what you do for people … the skill you bring and the difference you make… it’s really, well, it’s the art of explaining isn’t it?”

Thank you Rachael: I was expecting the logos and colours, but it’s hard to believe, 10 years on, just how much more I got. With the phrase art of explaining I had the formula for my personal brand. I had a clear picture, shaped by this idea of using art and logic to help people communicate with impact. Now I could see a pattern connecting all I’d done professionally (teacher, editor, copywriter, promoter) with what I was good at and everything I actually wanted to do. Now I was able to see what I could offer, where I should focus (the setting, the people) how I could make it work, and all along, why I was doing it.

You and your brand

Finding your personal brand means finding yourself, no less — an existential quest for a meaningful, relevant and true identity in a cynical and ruthless market.

With this self-knowledge things don’t necessarily get easier, but they do make more sense. I don’t always love my work. I hate spending too long in front of a screen. But I’m clear why it’s worth it so I’ve learned to cope: I’m off boating this afternoon.

Careers built on personal brands should be for life too. As with marriage, ultimately you can walk away, but if you and your brand are going to endure you’ll need to work to keep the whole thing relevant and in tune with you.

The creative career search

All of this turns the logic of the career search upside-down: to find the job, first find yourself. If you’re starting or rethinking your career, don’t let known vacancies shape your plans. You are the only given part of this puzzle, so that’s where the search must focus.

Richard M Bolles has been championing this view for nearly 50 years. His book What Colour is your Parachute? poses three key questions:

1. What are the skills you most love to use?

2. Where would you most love to use those skills?

3. How, where and through whom can you get the job that enables this?

Find it fast

Bolles offers an inventory for identifying your skills and the things you love to do. It’s a great place to start — but this kind of soul-searching is not easy. I’m glad to have found Bolles and started asking these questions early in my career, but it was another 15 years before Costa and Rachael, when I finally had the answers.

How can you accelerate the journey? It needs the right kind of time and space. It needs the objective view of someone (a mentor, a life-coach, a consultant) with the right qualities. It demands honesty, an open mind, and probably coffee. And the sooner you begin, the better.