How to develop your personal brand
Be authentic
As indicated by PACE University (2010) before shaping your
personal brand it’s important to analyze who you really are and what you really
want. In order to this you can ask yourself questions such as:
·
What have I accomplished so far
·
What am I passionate about?
·
What are my goals?
As indicated in PACE University (2010) once you
have analyzed yourself the following factors must be looked into:
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Task
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Description
|
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Learn how to
introduce yourself
|
In interviews
often the interview may ask you to describe yourself.
As stated in PACE University (2010) it’s important to know
how to concisely, confidently say your name, your recent history( like school
and university you studied at) and your goals,
·
Practice until
you’re comfortable telling your own story.
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Show your confidence
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Show that you are
confident in yourself and what u can do
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Develop the tools
of the trade
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Job vacancies come
with a description of the types of tool/ skills needed for it. It’s important
that you develop the necessary skills needed to reach your goals
|
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Dress for success
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First impressions
are important and that is made from what you wear. As indicated in PACE University (2010) a great strategy is to
have one or two reliable, high-quality outfits that are appropriate for a job
interview or professional event.
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Build a
professional online image
|
This is the
information era and everyone is surfing the net. Therefore it’s important to
make yourself present on social media networks. If you don’t exists online
then to the majority of the world you don’t exist at all. Every company
before hiring/ interviewing someone they would look for them online. A
As stated in PACE University (2010) you must always Google
yourself and make sure that photo or information of you behaving in an
unprofessional manner is not there.
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Ask for feedback
|
Find a
professional you trust and ask them to evaluate your personal branding. Tell
them to look through your CV and cover letters before you send them out.
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Table 5: Personal Branding
According
to University of Wolverhampton (2013) personal
branding involves three stages:
Stage 1:
Decide what you want our personal brand to be. How you want others to see you
and what you think is important for you to have for your personal information.
Stage 2:
The next stage is to check that your personal brand is working. This involves
evaluating whether the outward manifestations of your brand match what you want
your brand to be
Stage 3:
This is identifying the things that you want to change about yourself to
improve your personal brand.
Online Image
It’s
important to maintain a proper online image. As mentioned before companies
always surf via the internet potential employees as well as their current
employees.
A
few tips to maintain a good online image
·
Always Google yourself
and be aware about the available information about you.
·
Become a user of
LinkedIn as stated in PACE University (2010) LinkedIn is the largest professional social
network, so you need to be part of it.
·
As indicated in PACE University (2010) when using Face
book set your privacy to the max, delete any inappropriate photos, join groups
related to your professional interests and use apps with professional
potential.
·
Use proper and
appropriate name for twitter accounts and other blog account that you have
·
Be cautious about what
you put on social media site like face book, twitter and blogs.
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