Yesterday I was writing a post for a business website on this same subject and how they should go about building their brand. Although there are a few similarities, building your personal brand is very different. This is so much easier. This is you just being you.
Chief Grey Owl
Your public brand should reflect your personality, your hopes and dreams. It is relating to your friends and others that you meet online in a manner that is reflective of who you are. So, now you are asking, “What’s the difference from what I am doing now?” Or “Why do I need to worry about it? I do it all the time.”
Perhaps nothing needs to change as to how you interact online now, just be aware that everything you say to your friends is being seen by your future employer. It’s kind of like standing in the foyer at church talking to your friend about your date last night. The same thing might be said but you are a little more careful how you say it.
But there are a few things you should do to better enhance your chances of getting that job you are looking for after school. I would start by putting your major and areas of interest in your profiles of the platforms you presently use, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I would also suggest that you begin to mention interesting things you have learned, or occasionally express your desires to work in a particular field or for particular companies within your posts.
Now I would like to discuss some other platforms that you may not have considered.
LinkedIn – is an excellent social/industry networking site. Here, in your profile, you would put that you are a student in this major area. Then on the site you can join like industry groups, get into discussions with professionals within your field, and begin to build your network of professional peers. There are job postings, but more important, connections with people who know of the positions that might not be posted.
Tumblr and DailyBooth – these two sites allow you to demonstrate a more artistic side of your personality. DailyBooth works well for photography posts. If you want to become a photo-journalist this might be an ideal location to hang out. Likewise, Tumblr would allow you to do this, but also is a good outlet for photos of your paintings, examples of poetry or samples of your writings.
Twitter – Twitter is a unique format and is somewhat daunting at first but you will quickly catch on as how to use it. Twitter is good because you can follow any number of people within your field of interest and see what issues are affecting them and what their interests are. If you use Twitter, learn to use the lists option. Be careful who you follow though, everyone can see this as well, no porn sites guys.
Blog – This idea is probably the most involved but you should really consider it. It is the best way to get your personality, expertise and goals out there into the ether. Starting a blog is easy and if you host with someone like WordPress, is free. The options of sites and formats out there for which to express yourself are practically limitless.
To really stick out in the crowd of applicants it is important to network with people in your field. Likewise, it is just as important to be able to show your future employer who you are, what your personality is like and what your abilities are. Even blogging about the stupid things that happen to you every day at school will demonstrate your reasoning ability, writing/ communication skills all the while showing your personality to future employers.
It is not too early to think about getting started. Waiting to the last minute will show as there will not be many postings. The same could be said about your Facebook page, if at the last minute you need to go through and delete a majority of your posts.
Photo by Elwood W. McKay III at freedigitalphotos.net
