We spend a lot of time here at YourJobStop preaching about personal branding and how important it all is. Let's face it folks --who you are on the internet--is a huge part of who you are as a job candidate. Your digital footprint is now the preface to a resume read and there is nothing you can do about it.

Actually that is not 100% true. There is a lot you can do about it. You can consciously change your personal brand to suit your needs. YourJobStop is working on a video series that will hope to launch early next year where we will be asking the best in Social Media what they think is necessary to shape your online brand. We are hoping that in wandering the intersection of social media and recruiting we will be able to provide our readers with unique insights into the future of job search and personal branding online. We will keep you posted on that, and in the meantime if anyone wants to add their two cents as a social media insight giver, feel free to email me at joanna@yourjobstop.com to set up an interview.

So in the meantime I think it's time you all start focusing on your personal brand. How do you do that? Start reading folks. There are so many great industry leaders that are dropping serious knowledge when it comes to personal branding and here are just a few of our favorites...

1. Dan Schawbel is the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He is the author of the bestselling career book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, April 2009). He covers all sorts of questions that can help you understand how to put your best foot forward online. Check out his blog here.
2. The Personal Branding Blog is another great resource for those of you looking to reshape your digitial footprint. It offers more basic commentary and troubleshooting when you are wandering online and trying to make a name for yourself.
3. Gayle Howard is another favorite of mine. Her blog—Top Margin –comes to us from “down under” aka Melbourne, and offers awesome advice on how to brand yourself thoughtfully and aggressively in today’s online arena. A definite read for you newcomers.
4. Lastly, Jason Alba is one you should be adding the list. If you are hoping to learn ways to build your brand in an internet-friendly way and find a job at the same time, Jason’s blog is must-subscribe to for you. I have been reading his blog for years, and still find new insights weekly.

Okay here are a few to get you started, if you think I’ve missed a great one let me know and I’ll be sure to add you in our upcoming resource list. YourJobStop will be pushing out resources in the upcoming weeks that focus on personal branding and how we can all “tidy” up our internet-friendly image. It’s your brand folks…but what are you doing actively to make it the very best brand it can be?