Your personal brand

BRAND YOU:
DREAM, PLAN, ACHIEVE
Knowing & PromotingYour Strengths
In a Competitive Job Market
:
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdLIerfXuZ4
C DR. DIANA MARTINELLI APRIL 2013

WHAT’S A BRAND?
 The values and qualities a product – or person – is known for.
 You’re competing with all of the other graduates in your field
 How are you different?
 i.e.What makes you, YOU?
 Quantitative online survey of 2,500 U.S. adults to identify the
nation’s “top brands”
 Operationalized “top brand” through an index

12 ATTRIBUTES OF CORPORATE
“TOP BRANDS”
 Is honest & trustworthy
 Exhibits ethical leadership
 Maintains high standards of quality
 Invests in innovative ideas & research
 Upholds transparent communication practices
 Invests in its customers
 Dedicated to making communities a better place
 Positively impacts the everyday lives of its customers
 Makes a positive contribution to society
 Understands & addresses my unique needs
 Cares about issues that matter to me
 Wants to make a difference in the world

DESIRABLE PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
 Humbly confident
 This is key!
 Generous in praise
 Appreciative of others’ time & counsel
 Willingness to assist & give back
 Ability to add value across situations
 Positive, can-do attitude
 See challenges as opportunities to grow
 Care in one’s personal appearance
 Responsible, conscientious, dedicated, hard-working

YOUR BRAND CHARACTERISTICS
 Look at slide 3
 List the top 5 values important toYOU; these become part of your
brand.
 Look at slides 3 & 4
 List the top 5 attributes a close friend, relative or colleague would use
to describe you.
 Think of these characteristics as being part of your personal
word cloud…
 But is this how you’re defining & representing yourself?
 Look at the key words on your resume, CV, Facebook page, LinkedIn
page, Twitter description, Pinterest description, web page …

YOUR ELEVATOR SPEECH
aka Introduction or Infomercial…
 30- to 60-second core message that describes your personal value
statement & brand differentiators / USPs (i.e. what’s special aboutYOU!)
 A statement you can use to summarize your background , interests and
desires when the opportunity presents itself (e.g. “What do you do?”)
 Conference
 Career Fair
 Reception
 Lecture
 Interview intro
 Voice mail message
 Any networking opportunity …

YOUR CORE BRAND MESSAGE
 Take a moment to outline your core brand message (30
seconds = ~ 65 words; one minute = ~ 130)
 Example:
 My name’s Jake LaRue. I’m graduating in May with a master’s
degree in horticulture from WVU, and I’m really passionate about
finding optimal food production techniques to help address poverty.
I had the opportunity to contribute to some exciting research in
this field during an internship last summer. . . .
 I’d love to talk with you [someone in your company] to learn more
about your work and how I might better prepare myself for a
position like yours. I believe my education, strong work ethic, &
leadership experience have given me a strong foundation, but I
know there’s always more to learn…. Is there someone you
recommend I contact?

IMPORTANT FACTORS
 Rewrite your speech to sharpen its focus.
 Make it sincere and provide a glimpse into your personality.
(Don’t deliver a “canned” statement.)
 Speak confidently and enthusiastically (but don’t rush
through it).
 Practice your speech until you’re comfortable with it from
beginning to end.
 Maintain eye contact with your listener.
 Prepare / be ready to deliver different versions for different
situations / audiences.

YOUR PROFESSIONAL GOALS
 Think about and write down 2 to 3 short-range (3- to 5-
year) professional goals.
 Think about and write down 2 to 3 long-range (10- to 15-
year) professional goals and aspirations.

VISUALIZE THE JOB YOU DESIRE
 Where is it?
 What kinds of work will you do?
 How will it feel to have this job?

START PREPARING NOW
 Who do you need to follow (Twitter), read (blogs), monitor
(websites), join (professional organizations), contact
(networking) right now to learn more about this type of job
or field?
 Who do you know that’s in that line of work?
 Conduct research to find 5 people who are in this business /
line of work.
 Google them; review their LinkedIn profiles; what are their
backgrounds? Do they tweet? Blog? Is there a listed degree of
separation / common connections between you and them?

NETWORKING CHANNELS
 School-related
 Professors, classmates, advisors, mentors
 Organizations
 Professional, civic, social, collegiate …
 Work-related
 Past employers, colleagues
 Online
 Facebook, LinkedIn,Twitter …
 Personal
 Family, friends, acquaintances
 Receptions, parties, events, lectures
 Proactively take initiative to introduce yourself & meet others
More than 70% of jobs obtained are the result of a personal connection.

NEXT STEPS
Take a piece of paper and write a pledge to yourself:
 I will take the following 3 steps this week toward building a positive
professional brand:
For example, you might pledge to:
1) revise my social network site profiles and update their content to
better reflect my personal brand
2) research 5 people who are doing work that I would like to do
3) actively seek out at least 1 networking opportunity each week this
month & hone & practice my elevator speech
 Sign & date the paper
Revisit it and develop a new pledge of
positive action steps every week or two

Your personal brand

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