Expat Careers: Personal Branding is Practical

Sometimes an expat will come to me and say that they need a job quickly in their current location or country of choice.  After explaining my approach to building a career abroad based on personal branding, some of them tell me they are not looking for an comprehensive look at managing their career.

They tell me that personal branding sounds like a great idea, but they are trying to be "practical" or "realistic" about their situation and don't have the time for anything but getting their CV or resume in order so they can get on with their job search.

After asking some questions, I usually find that they:

• have some pretty good ideas, but are unsure what they really truly want to do
• feel they should pursue jobs that "make sense" based on their job history rather than pursue what they are passionate about
• are somewhat clear on what they offer but could not concisely and confidently communicate their unique value
• don't know exactly how they stand out from their competitors
• may have a few names, but are not sure who their top target employers are, where they are located, or what their primary needs are
• are uncertain what they would say in an interview to definitively convince an employer that they were the one for the job
• will depend solely on recruiters, online job listings and their immediate (and often underdeveloped) network to learn about jobs opportunities for which they will apply

In a nutshell - they have no specific goals, a less than optimal level of self-awareness for a job search, no real commitment to professional fulfillment despite a high level of dissatisfaction in their current job, and little ability to communicate or demonstrate their value in a compelling way to their target audience.