Personal Branding and How to Create One
What is a personal brand and why do I need it?
A personal brand can be identified as a corporate identity. It encompasses your values, skills, and the personality you take on when you’re in the work office. Personal brand is important as it is your selling point. Just like how a marketer tries to sell a product to you in hopes that you will buy it, you’re selling your own personal work brand to future employers and colleagues in hopes that they will hire you or want to work with you. So it is always important to try to build up a consistent and desirable brand reputation.
How to create a personal brand reputation
- Map out your desired brand reputation
You need to first find out the brand reputation you want to take on first. You should ask yourself questions that will help you shape this desired brand reputation. Such questions can be like what areas of work do I want to excel in? What work characteristics do I want to take on? For example, you may want to be known as diligent or motivated. What personality do I want to have? For example, you may want to be known as extroverted and friendly.
- Understand your current brand reputation
Now that you have designed your desired personal work brand, you need to understand your current work brand so that you are able to identify the see the differences between your current and desired brands. To do this, ask yourself what areas do you currently excel at. What type of characteristics do I often show at work? What personality do I tend to bring to work? You may need to ask your colleagues for their opinion to be able to gain a more impartial and accurate understanding of your work personality.
- Define your target audience
Before you actually create your personal brand, you also need to define who you are trying to target with your new personal brand. Are you planning to target it to future employers within the tech industry or the medical industry? Knowing who exactly you are targeting helps you understand the personal brand you are trying to create. For example, if you are targeting the designing industry, then ensure that your personal brand focuses on creativity.
- Align your actions with your brand
Now you actually need to bring this personal work brand to life through your communication and actions. Find opportunities to showcase this new personal brand such as through new projects, assignments or roles. For example, if you have decided that your brand will be more outspoken and people-oriented, then take on a group assignment instead of an individual one, and try to also take on a more vocal role in that group assignment, such as a presenter or leader. Then, once you have managed to accomplish your role successfully, make sure that you promote these achievements so that other workers, whether it be colleagues or future employers, know your value and personal brand.
