Whether we like to admit it or not, the entire job application process, to a certain extent, requires that you positively “brand” yourself. No, I don’t mean branding yourself as “smart” or “female” or “nerd”, what I really mean is building a personal professional reputation. Polishing your personal brand, especially with the huge influence social media has on our world these days, it is now more important than ever in order to stand out from the crowd and get noticed.
If you’ve ever had any experience with marketing or PR, you know exactly how the branding process works. If not, I’m here to help! The concept of branding yourself can be a bit abstract. I suppose a great way to think about it would be to identify a specific brand that really speaks to you. How does this brand make their mission clear? Why do you relate to it? What draws you to this brand specifically? You can apply your answers to these questions in building your personal brand.
Choose a brand that speaks to you!
Using the same metaphor, first think about your favorite brand’s mission statement. How do they emulate their core values and condense their principles into a cohesive idea or picture? Similarly, figuring out what your personal values, purpose and mission are and how you exemplify these in your daily life, gives people a sense of what gets you out of bed in the morning. With this in mind, summarizing your mission statement into a short and sweet 2-3 sentences will be very helpful when asked certain questions in interviews, informational interviews, and online/in-person networking. Helping others understand your passions and motivations allows for people to get to know you on a deeper level in a short amount of time.
Hang on!
Secondly, think about your audience. Who does your preferred brand speak to and how do they successfully reach this audience? Narrowing down your interests and locating whom you need to be speaking to and learning from is very important. For example, if you were interested in working in publishing in the Chicago area, noting this clearly helps to identify a sector, or audience, of a profession where you would be interested in working.
Thirdly: think aesthetic. Look to your favorite brand. What sort of aesthetic or look comes to mind? How do they present themselves with a certain style? Is it modern and sleek? Rustic? Whatever it may be, take this concept and apply it to how people see you at first glance. By this I mean, how you present yourself. Looking professional and put-together in person and over social media is vital towards building your personal brand. Cleaning up your social media platforms of any un-professional behavior is very important, especially as the web has become so deep and expansive (anyone can find anything about you at this point!).
No, that Kim Kardashian-esque bikini selfie is actually not a great LinkedIn picture!
The next step is selling yourself. After having identified your core values, audience base and looking the part (online and in-person), now comes the difficult part: using your past experiences to express your abilities and preparedness for the position. Think about the brand from before. How do they successfully show off their strengths, and perhaps go about navigating problems or topics of concern? Now think about your personal strengths and weaknesses. How can you illuminate the good, and sugarcoat the bad? Present your strengths and show how your past experiences have led you to improve your weaknesses into strengths. Don’t be afraid to elaborate on what you can improve on. Showing your weaknesses, but adding a twist to show how you’re already working on them, shows a lot about your personality and willingness to learn and grow.
One concrete way to brand yourself is over social media. LinkedIn is a very valuable platform to tactically begin the process of branding yourself, and can make the whole idea more tangible. For example, in the summary section or in your headline, use these text boxes to make your core values, strengths and personality know. In addition, identify your audience by speaking TO someone. Then, more concretely, display your resume and past experiences, expanding on specific tasks and what you gained from each experience. A great looking, professional LinkedIn picture helps too!
In the end, all of these steps lead to differentiating yourself. In a sea of young people fighting for the same job, how will you look different to come out on top? Finding your personal brand, polishing this in every way possible (online and in person), and embodying this in your actions and words, will make you stand out. Everyone has a different story, but using your ups and down, challenges and successes and unique background to your advantage will be invaluable.
