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Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand

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Praise for Career Distinction

"Hands down, this book is the bible on branding for your career!"
-- Susan Britton Whitcomb, author of Job Search Magic

"As a professional resume writer and career coach, I have extolled the concept of personal branding for my clients for years. Now, for the first time ever, I have an outstanding resource to recommend--Career Distinction by William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson. This book details the concept of personal branding in a magnificent and easy-to-digest presentation that is a must-buy for every serious job seeker."
-- Wendy S. Enelow, CCM, MRW, JCTC, CPRW Executive Director of the Career Masters Institute

"Arruda and Dixson are widely respected in the global career coaching community as gurus who not only teach but live the personal branding model, and their expertise and passion show through on every page of this practical, indispensable book. I highly recommend it to all who want to distinguish themselves from the competition."
-- L. Michelle Tullier, PhD, Vice President of Right Management and author of The Unofficial Guide to Landing a Job

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 11, 2007

32 people are currently reading
400 people want to read

About the author

William Arruda

12 books4 followers

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5 stars
40 (20%)
4 stars
72 (37%)
3 stars
58 (29%)
2 stars
17 (8%)
1 star
7 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Profile Image for Chris Armer.
131 reviews2 followers
October 14, 2015
The book gives a general overview of the concept of personal branding. This book would be a 4-5 star book for the person who hasn't read anything on personal branding. It does give a good overview of the subject. Someone will certainly be helped by reading it. However, for someone like myself who has read 3 other books on the subject, there was nothing that really stood out to set it apart from the other books. The book is also a bit dated. Technology is changing so fast that a personal branding book could be written or updated every couple years.
Profile Image for Teri Temme.
Author 1 book54 followers
January 4, 2020
Great step-by-step instructions for building your own personal brand.
5 reviews
August 14, 2011
This book was recommended to me by a marketing professor earlier this year. It took me a few months to get around to it, and a few weeks to actually get through, but all in all, it's pretty good. While the book seems to focus more on people in established careers, the information it contains could be made applicable to just about anyone.

It does have more of a tailored focus towards career-related social media and branding, and some of the chapters can be a little dry. The Authors are experts in the field and you can certainly tell that the book is related to their business. There are activities throughout the book that you can access to identify and develop your brand, but I haven't utilized these yet (I plan to at some point, however).

It'll probably take another read-through and actual engagement of the assessments that the book offers in order for me to get the most out of it, but if you're looking for information about creating and developing your "personal brand," it's worth checking out.
Profile Image for Michael Tiger.
51 reviews4 followers
May 6, 2024
Good book with a number of relevant ideas. Two issues - the website it refers to no longer exists and much of the info in this book is repetitive with what I have read elsewhere. 4 stars because the info is still relevant (albeit with some tweaking).
Profile Image for Fariz Abdussalam.
62 reviews
January 19, 2019
how to build your personal brand for your career journey. Provide tips to establish your brand in:
- CV
- online profile
- people mindset

with examples.
Profile Image for Heidi | Paper Safari Book Blog.
1,149 reviews21 followers
September 22, 2011
I read this book for a class I'm taking for my Masters in Organizational Development and while the information wasn't necessarily new to me I like the way it was written. This book is one of the most readable and engaging of the books on business and branding that I have read.

Career Distinction makes the case for thoroughly understanding yourself and how building your unique brand will bring value to your audience. Standing out from the crowd and being constantly sought out by potential employers is the payoff for putting these ideas in action. I was particularly interested in the 360 degree assessment of how others perceive my personal and professional skills and attributes. Knowing how others perceive you is incredibly important to understanding yourself. This was an incredibly invaluable tool. Its fascinating to see how others see you.

If you are looking at switching jobs or just want to learn how to better your career this is a great place to start.
Profile Image for Billy Robinson.
1 review4 followers
January 3, 2013
This is a pretty good book on personal branding and career development for the 2000's. Everybody needs and up to date LInkedIn profile and careful of their Facebook and Twitter.

It does have more of a tailored focus towards career-related social media and branding, and some of the chapters can be a little dry. The Authors are experts in the field and you can certainly tell that the book is related to their business. There are activities throughout the book that you can access to identify and develop your brand, but I haven't utilized these yet (I plan to at some point, however).

I have a copy you can look at here on http://www.tendollarbooks.biz

Cheers,

Bill
4 reviews18 followers
January 20, 2014
Great introduction to personal branding. I would recommend it to everyone working in the field of marketing, journalism or any other profession where is really important how you communicate your personality and values. Good tips from real people included.


"An image is not simply a trademark, a design, a slogan or an easily remembered picture. It is a studiously crafted personality profile of an individual, institution, corporation, product or service." - Daniel J. Boorstin
Profile Image for Jeff Lampson.
77 reviews4 followers
Read
January 22, 2016
I really like this book a lot. It has a very distinctive and useful approach to personal branding and career management. It provides simple and powerful tools and exercises that can be completed with whatever level of expediency and depth best suit your needs. The result is a powerful vision, clear goals and personal brand statement.

This material is a good starter and can really become an on-going pursuit through their interactive website and by joining their network.
Profile Image for Lesley Looper.
2,238 reviews74 followers
April 28, 2009
I really enjoyed this book, and got some good ideas on branding when it comes to my career. Many of the ideas in this book would apply to one's personal life too, especially if you have hobbies and areas of interest you'd like to develop.

This is the first book I've read on branding; I think it sets the bar pretty high!

Profile Image for Daron.
28 reviews3 followers
July 9, 2012
this is a lot of work but worth it. I have reevaluated my strengths (personal perception and crowd confirmation) combined with Marcus Buckingham's book in mind I have re-lauched my career priorities. From a "good" manager I will return to my IT Technology Evangelist/Architecture roots - I couldnt be happier!
Profile Image for Cori.
693 reviews16 followers
Read
May 14, 2013
This book isn't really all I was hoping it would be. It is kind of like all of the other books and blogs on the topic. Somewhat interesting, but not a lot of actionable items. Maybe it would be more helpful if I owned the book and could actually use the online resources.
Profile Image for David.
25 reviews8 followers
Read
May 16, 2010
In summary: tweet and blog a lot
Profile Image for Christine .
23 reviews
April 27, 2011
Quick read, modern and great tips on branding yourself...it's not just about your career.
Profile Image for Cheryl Kularatne.
16 reviews
May 30, 2016
Excellent book. Very full of lots of useful information. I have over half of it flagged and so much to do. Gives some really good direction to improve professionally! Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews

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