A decade later, the audience for Monster’s product has shifted substantially.

The idea that “Search for a job” has been the message is correct… but a message for whom? When they rolled out at first : it was targeted towards savvy recruiters at major corporations as a job syndication to major papers. Then it flip-flopped into an aggregation of major newspaper jobs. Then it flipped into an end consumer model.

All of those shifts represented major trends in the job market: ranging from corporate buy-in to end user adoption rate.

+The ability to impress someone online is not defined in terms of how may years of experience you have; but the ability to passionately communicate your talents. I believe talent is readily available at any age.

If we look at personal branding as talent expression instead of experience expression, it becomes a more substantial concept. (Not that I am not saying talent is easy to come by… LoL.)

~Barry Hurd

Are you suggesting that I actually have to do it, too?

Ay, caramba, when did life get so unfair?!

I liked it better when I could read a blog that made me feel good about myself, come up with my pithy one-liner about what I do, and then—after being rejected all day by everyone I reached out to—chalk it up to them not understanding my value proposition.

At least then I didn’t have to work hard and I could blame others for my failure!

This… new “approach” to branding you propose… this is going to require actual effort on my part, isn’t it.

*sigh*

Thanks for your branding input – it got me thinking….

You hit on exactly what I’ve always believed, and what emerging research has begun to show: you are who you are, no matter how much you spin it. People try way to hard to just “brand” what they are in a different light and it’s downright ridiculous.

Shakespeare had it right when he penned, ‘to thine own self be true.’