In the past few years social media has become more important in the career world and so has personal branding. Personal branding is crucial for companies looking to hire you. You want something about yourself to stick out and be remembered. We are in the day and age when our opinions and activity online are very visible so why don't we use that to get hired? There are several steps to begin the personal branding process as well as many resources that can help you be more visible online and more attractive to recruiters and companies.
The first step of course is to discover who you are. These seems like a huge task right off the bat. Many people make the mistake of branding themselves simply because they have to or for the sake of doing it. You need to take the time to decide who you are and what your brand should be. What are the most important aspects of your personality? What is your passion in life? This is the time to set goals for yourself and plan out what you want for the future. What drives you in life? You need to make your self impression equal how others perceive you. Your brand is going to represent who you are so make it a good one.
The next step is to create your personal brand. You will be creating a personal branding tool kit. These are the tools to help you build your brand, network and establish how you want others to perceive you.
- Business cards - This is a very important tool. As college students and soon to be graduates this will be on the most effective ways to network and gain those connections. This should contain your preferred contact information, including an online portfolio (if you have one). Keep it simple. This is just a way to keep your information handy. There's not need to cram a lot of stuff onto such a small space.
- Resume/cover letter - Both of these are very important to have on hand. How else are you going to apply to jobs? Your resume and cover letter should reflect your personal style (but don't get too crazy) and should involve your most pertinent information such as education, job history and skills. Employers want to see what you've done and what you can do. Remember to customize your cover letter to each job you are applying to.
- Portfolio/website - Having a portfolio is a great way to showcase what you've done. Show projects you've worked on in the past as this is an effective way to convince potential employers that you can do the same in the future. Having your own domain name for your website is a good way to keep your personal brand in plain view.
Next week I'll be talking a little more about social media and how you can involve different social media sites in your personal branding.
Source: http://mashable.com/2009/02/05/personal-branding-101/
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