Build Your … Brand

Abstract

The first and third instances are such glaring examples of poor brand management that you may have found them a little painful to read. Josie too quickly downplays her academic experiences, and Molly opens conversation by focusing on what she doesn’t want to do. Jada, however, seizes an opportunity to work her brand statement directly into the start of a professional conversation. Building and communicating a personal brand are extremely important activities as you begin your career and transition from school to work or as you transition jobs early in your career. It’s also important to manage your brand proactively through periods when you are not working or are reducing career intensity. In the previous chapter, we took the concept of a corporate board and morphed it into a personal one to guide you through your career. In this chapter, we replicate the process with another hot corporate topic—branding.

Josie sits across the desk facing the interviewer. The interviewer asks Josie to tell her about a time when Josie had to convince someone who was skeptical. Josie begins to answer, “Well, I haven’t really been in a lot of situations like that yet but…”

Jada is at a networking reception for recent graduates of her alma mater with senior alums in the area. She spots an alum she met at an event when she was a student and walks over. “Hello Jada,” the alum says, “How are you? What are you up to now?” Jada responds with, “Well I just got back from a trip to India where I was able to see the improvements in a small rural community where my management class established a micro-loan program. Now, I am focused on finding a position in the private sector where I will be able to use the skills I developed in a commercial setting.”

Molly reaches to pay for lunch in her office’s building café and realizes she is in line next to the manager who had originally hired her into the organization. “Hi Shenice,” Molly says. They end up sitting down to eat together. Shenice says, “I heard you are doing a great job running the project management office for our global communications deployment. When that wraps up, I’d like to see if we can get you into the project management office for the trading software integration effort.” Molly responds by saying, “Well, maybe. I don’t know that I really want to keep doing project management work though.”