How to Build a Personal Brand as a Young Graduate

Several authors from academic journals have defined personal branding. For example, Montoya and Vandehey (2009) describe a personal brand as “a clear, strong, and convincing public image” (p.4). Whereas Kaputa understands that a personal brand is a way of differentiating yourself from the competition, and an individual’s personal message that he/she can market to a targeted audience. In simpler terms, it is what you do and how you communicate with your potential employers. Labrecque et al. (2011) see personal branding as the personality of an individual. They define it as “personal branding entails the capturing and promoting an individual’s strengths and uniqueness to a target audience” (p.38).

We all have a personal brand, even if you are not aware of it. During your work and personal life, you have become known for being a certain kind of person and doing things in a certain way. We are all driven by values and passions, and own certain skills and strengths.

So, the big question is how do you define your own personal brand and how can you use it to market yourself to potential employers?

Firstly, you need to be self-aware. Knowing your personality traits, skill sets and values will help you determine your personal brand.

Secondly, pay attention to the feedback given to you. During your school years, you surely received a lot of feedback from teachers and professors, even from your peers. Asking for feedback is also vital. Simply asking your friends about your qualities will help to determine your personal brand.

Thirdly, sit down and work on identifying yourself and what you are good at. Just as a company would conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis, so can a person. Identify what you are (and are not) good at, what opportunities you have, and what threats you could face. For example, you have identified that your strengths are in graphic design and that you are a creative person, but your weakness is communication. You have job opportunities in graphic design with vacancies in several companies where you live, but you face threats/competition from other graphic designers.

So, what can you do, given these circumstances? You can begin doing group activities, socializing, and networking more so that you can improve your communication skills. When writing your CV, you have to make sure that your graphic design skills stand out by having a creative, well-designed CV. In this way, when you decide to “market” yourself to potential employers and the world, they will see that your personal brand includes your skills in graphic design and that you are a creative person.

It is also important to align your personal brand with your target audience. If you are applying for an internship or a job, where the employer or the company prides itself in its accounting services, then you would want to build a personal brand showing your numerical, business, and accounting skills. Brand marketers in the corporate world listen to their customers’ wants and needs and adjust accordingly. The same can be done with a personal brand.

The key takeaways from this article are:

1. Be honest and genuine. Being authentic and be yourself, and it will always help you define your personal brand.

2. Self-awareness is important in understanding yourself.

3. Pay attention and ask for feedback. You can track your progress.

4. Understand your audience and align your personal brand accordingly.

5. Network with your fellow peers. Using tools like LinkedIn will also help build a personal brand that you can market to the world.