Personal Branding

Personal branding is the process of developing and managing your unique identity and image, while keeping in mind how others will be viewing you. It’s about showcasing your skills, strengths, values and passions and then communicating that to others in a professional and respectful way. It’s essentially how you choose to market yourself to the world, both online and offline. 

Your appearance and behavior is shown to others through social media platforms, websites and other content that you may create. It is extremely important to build a strong personal brand that will help you stand out in a competitive job market and establish credibility with others.

Using career exploration tools like O*NET can provide you with some insight into your unique strengths. After exploring this resource, begin answering some of these questions:

  • What are your strengths?
  • What do you value most?
  • What are you passionate about?
  • What makes you unique?

Standing out from your peers and competitors can be helpful when applying for jobs or interviewing. We can guarantee the hiring manager is looking you up on Google and LinkedIn! It is not necessary to have chosen a career goal or major in order to start working on your personal brand, so start now!

Now that you have identified some of your brand characteristics, it’s time to get those across to other people in a professional and clear way. Consistency is paramount when interacting with every person you meet and we can do this by creating a personal brand statement.

Start by answering the following questions which will help you to create your “story.” This is a great way to showcase your unique skills, achievements and life experiences.  

  • What disciplines or strengths do others see in me?
  • When collaborating with a team, what roles fit me best?
  • When faced with an overwhelming obstacle, what are my “go-to” skills to overcome it?
  • Think of an important project, and in what ways did you succeed in it?
  • When working in teams, what was the most important role I ever fulfilled and why?

Creating your personal brand “story” is tremendously important material that you can share in interviews, cover letters, online platforms like LinkedIn, your “Elevator Pitch” and during networking events!

Your personal brand is something that will continue to change over time as you gain more life experiences and learn more about who you are (your strengths, interests, values, etc.)

Everyone’s personal brand is unique to them. Learning how to portray yourself in a genuine, powerful and memorable way can help you to stand out and advance your career.

Make sure you continually:

  • Research your online presence (LinkedIn, Instagram and other social media platforms if they are public). After making connections at networking events or applying for a job, it’s almost certain that your name will be Googled. 
  • Double-check that you have no incriminating, inappropriate, embarrassing or unprofessional posts/photos of you online. 
  • We suggest it’s best to make your social media accounts private.
  • Keep your information up-to-date.