On of the best resources available on how to build your personal brand is the Personal Branding Blog of Dan Schwabel. While Dan is recognized as the leading personal branding expert for Generation Y, his advice applies to all generations in the workforce.

To get you started he provides practical advice on creating traditional personal branding tools such as business cards , portfolios , resumes and cover letters but with a fresh and unique approach. While the attraction and hiring process is changing, it is advisable to have these traditional resources ready should a potential employer ask for them.

In addition to a more traditional (offline) personal brand, many employers expect you to have an online personal brand or profile. While some may debate that an online presence is not always possible, a recent story (On the Street and on Facebook) in the Wall Street Journal demonstrates that even the homeless are finding a way to create an online presence.

The contributors to the Personal Branding Blog tell you how to use LinkedIn to change careers, be your own brand manager , as well as best practices in personal branding.

If you are hesitating about joining the move to using social media to build your online personal brand, there are several books that can help get you start started, check out the Top Ten Social Media Books .

Just a word of caution, while social media can help job seekers build an online profile and find employment, there are many examples of people damaging their online reputation. For example I found my job on Twitter and 7 Ways to Have Character (and Show It) on LinkedIn illustrate how to use social media successfully in you job search. 30 Ways to Lose a Job on Twitter illustrate what not to do .

John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing puts social media in perspective in his post Social Media Is a Tool, It Is Not a Religion .