Personal Branding

The Internet is a tool that allows any user to command his future with the click of a mouse. It has made possible connections and interconnections that grow into a wonderful web community. The Internet has revolutionized career development for personal empowerment, self-management and networking. It allows us to discover, create, communicate and maintain out personal brand for our future. The Web gives us the opportunity to promote “our brand” for ourselves by joining a social network and using our page as a billboard to advertise our talents and goals. Developing a personal brand makes us a more valuable asset, whether to the company we work for, a potential employer, or your own enterprise. This paper discusses the development and deployment of “personal branding” through appropriate social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. It gives and insight on strategies for using social media for career advantage, privacy issues and its future outlook. From the job seeker side, traditional resumes don’t differentiate our brands because they don’t capitalize on our personalities and our industry voice (Musgrave, 2007). Now, instead of just having a resume, we will all have to communicate online, share our knowledge, and make new connections— just about every day. When all resumes start looking almost identical to employers, our creative ideas and networks make us stand out. Employers will know if we care enough about our industry by performing Google searches on our name and reviewing our commentary on social networks (Schawbel, 2011). The traditional resume will evolve, encompassing more social media. LinkedIn

1. Built for users to make professional contacts
2. Since its creation, it has been geared toward the professional business crowd and has more than 60 million members to date 3. Each user profile can be personalised to feature recommendations from colleagues, a self-portrait, relevant links and special interest groups. 4. Has a resume, cover letter, and reference document together. You can summarise your qualifications, goals and interests and gather electronic endorsements from your managers. 5. Job search can be conducted which gives a potential bridge to a new job opportunity. 6. Acts as a virtual resume and venue for expressing your brand

Facebook
1. Simple and effective social networking tool and very little clutter and the ability to post photos from social events 2. Allows users to develop their own applications while enabling customised widgets and links to personal blogs 3. Facebook is currently the dominant social network, giving you free access to a variety of events, groups and profile pages around the world 4. Besides keeping in touch with friends, it now acts as an open business platform, allowing users to share their professional lives together. Twitter

1. Great for networking because you can use @ and # symbols. This is good for notifying your network of changes in life or updates on what you are currently doing 2. Broadcasting on current activities can be done via mobile phones up to 140 characters per message 3. People can start following you vice versa without having to accept a friend request The process of self-branding is a little different on the Internet and Web than it is in the more traditional media. The Web does not present a ‘royal road’ to easy advertising success (Armstrong, 1997). The medium however, does have many interesting features that can be used to build a successful personal branding profile. Personal branding is about telling the public something about your ‘product’. Social networking tools can reveal an applicant’s experience, marketable talents, interpersonal skills and personality. The following part of the paper discusses why LinkedIn and Facebook are selected as the most suitable platforms for publishing a job seeker profile, for a career advantage. Why LinkedIn

This professional network allows you to conduct...

References: Armstrong, S. (2007). Advertising on the Internet: How to get your message across on the World Wide Web. London, UK: Kogan Page.
CareerBuilder.com. (2010). More than four in ten workers over the age of 35 currently work for a younger boss, finds new CareerBuilder survey [Press release]. Feb 17. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2007/tc20070312_476504.htm.
Meyers, H., & Gerstman, R. (2001). Branding@the digital age. New York, US: Palgrave.
Musgrave, J. (2007). Your business online: 90 min guide. Australia: New Holland.
Schawbel, D. (2011). Me 2.0, Revised and Updated Edition: 4 Steps to Building Your Future. Kaplan.