1. Your job title is not you. It’s important to build your personal brand apart from the job you hold (or don’t currently hold) to avoid confusing your status with your inner self. You are more than your occupation. You have a unique history—both personal and professional—along with skills, talents, accomplishments and abilities.

Instead of introducing yourself using a job title, you can choose to talk about yourself from a functional standpoint (highlighting what behaviors drive job role effectiveness and/or leadership in the context of your experience,rather than focusing on the title itself). For a better-developed job application, choose a title for your resume and online profiles that conveys your area of expertise and displays your value.

Even if titles differ from company to company, you can always include applicable roles and functions regardless of what position you hold.

2. Know the difference among your responsibilities, actions and outcomes. When you’re called in for an interview, share what you did with strong supportive examples, and discusshow your efforts turned out. A hiring manager wants to know how employees can impact company profits.

You can give a short description of your role, but your conversation shouldn’t dwell on that alone. List all the things that make up your job description and explain how you were able to carry out your responsibilities to the benefit of customers and the business.

By focusing on your accomplishments, you can better ensure that a hiring manager sees you as the best person for the position.

3. Look for more information.Getting to know an employer is a must when looking for a job. You’ll be better able to engage in conversation if you know more about them. (This includes knowing what’s provided on their company website and LinkedIn profile, among other sources.)

You can also find out more information about companies on Google Finance, Yahoo Finance and reliable news sources. The more you research, the better you’ll be able to evaluate if a specific company really suits you.

4. Network. Networking is an effective way to expand personal and professional connections. It can give you the opportunity to build relationships with people working in the same industry, which can help you uncover key pieces of information, or share some of your own as well, where appropriate.

These few tips can help you both expand your career and grow professionally.