Go Brand Yourself!

In today’s competitive job market, the ability to stand out in a crowd can help set you apart from your competitors and put you “ahead of the game”. Whether you’re looking to develop or advance your career, personal branding plays a critical role in either process. The beauty of a personal brand is that every single person has one whether you consciously acknowledge it as your “brand” or not.

Your personal brand is an authentic compilation of your reputation, legacy (how others remember you), your expertise, and the relationships you make. In other words, it is embedded primarily in who you are and what you aspire to be. Through the process of creating a personal brand you find out how to bring more value to the work that you do and the target market you intend to serve, thus creating a consistent professional image you can market to your audience. The key to your personal brand is identifying and communicating your unique promise of value that sets you apart from your competitors.

There are three key steps to knowing your personal brand:

1. KNOW YOURSELF: As ridiculous as it may sound, defining who you are is an essential component of creating your personal brand. Know your values, passions, skills, strengths and limitations, and identify what your mission in life is. Once you clearly define these aspects of who you are, you can start owning the business of YOU by communicating your unique brand.
2. FIND YOUR PEOPLE: Who are you going to communicate your brand to? Consider what makes your brand unique, and what services your skill-set provides to others. Be sure to strategically target an audience that your brand will captivate.
3. DEVELOP AND CULTIVATE YOUR NICHE: It’s important that the personal brand you develop is an authentic representation of your goals and who you are as a person. Live your brand in everything that you do, from the way you dress to the way that you communicate yourself in online spaces.

Investing the time in this process is a long-term investment in your future success. If you don’t create a brand yourself, you risk being branded by other people. Take control of your unique career path and how your target audience sees the promise of your individual value.

Happy branding!

Kaitlyn Daw
4th Year English Language and Literature Major

Career Assistant