Posted on 01/10/2020 5:46:28 AM PST by karpov
Every college student knows that, once they graduate, landing the job of their dreams isn’t going to just happen. Yet, students still downplay the difficulties they will face, either because they don’t understand the job market or because they put too much stock in their skills, thinking that the competition won’t stand a chance.
The reality is that in a world shaped by the internet, students must learn some basic self-marketing skills to stand out in their field. Ignoring the need to have a strong professional presence—on- and offline—won’t do you any favors.
So, the job for you, the enterprising student preparing for life after college, is to develop some job skills that colleges won’t give you.
Building a Personal Brand
Creating a lasting first impression is essential in any line of business. To do that online, you must develop and establish your personal brand. But first, you have to know what a personal brand is and what it isn’t.
Personal branding is the practice of marketing yourself and your career as a brand. It involves an ongoing process of developing and maintaining your image. Personal branding isn’t about creating a version of yourself, but about exploring your best qualities, passions, and work experience to develop your own unforgettable online image.
What are the skills you have acquired through life that make you stand out? Do you have any certifications or credentials that prepare you for your future? Have you explored anything outside the academic world that helped you uncover hidden talents? Is there something you know that would be a game-changer in your field? If so, does it provide a solution to potential employers or clients?
And ask yourself what you stand for. By knowing your values, you will be able to use those as career-guiding principles.
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
I built a personal brand in the 90’s that I call “khaki wearing doofus” and it swept the nation, copied by legions of dads and middle managers.
One does not simply ascend to the slightly larger cubicle, unless one has the khakis and blue button down.
How about: showing up for work on time, following directions, and getting along with co-workers who don’t think you’re “special”?
The ability to not become paralyzed and catatonic without a continuous stream of instruction and validation would be nice
Some guy names Dave put it this way:
1. Think first of the other fellow. This is THE foundation — the first requisite — for getting along with others. And it is the one truly difficult accomplishment you must make. Gaining this, the rest will be “a breeze.”
2. Build up the other person’s sense of importance. When we make the other person seem less important, we frustrate one of his deepest urges. Allow him to feel equality or superiority, and we can easily get along with him.
3. Respect the other man’s personality rights. Respect as something sacred the other fellow’s right to be different from you. No two personalities are ever molded by precisely the same forces.
4. Give sincere appreciation. If we think someone has done a thing well, we should never hesitate to let him know it. WARNING: This does not mean promiscuous use of obvious flattery. Flattery with most intelligent people gets exactly the reaction it deserves — contempt for the egotistical “phony” who stoops to it.
5. Eliminate the negative. Criticism seldom does what its user intends, for it invariably causes resentment. The tiniest bit of disapproval can sometimes cause a resentment which will rankle — to your disadvantage — for years.
6. Avoid openly trying to reform people. Every man knows he is imperfect, but he doesn’t want someone else trying to correct his faults. If you want to improve a person, help him to embrace a higher working goal — a standard, an ideal — and he will do his own “making over” far more effectively than you can do it for him.
7. Try to understand the other person. How would you react to similar circumstances? When you begin to see the “whys” of him you can’t help but get along better with him.
8. Check first impressions. We are especially prone to dislike some people on first sight because of some vague resemblance (of which we are usually unaware) to someone else whom we have had reason to dislike. Follow Abraham Lincoln’s famous self-instruction: “I do not like that man; therefore I shall get to know him better.”
9. Take care with the little details. Watch your smile, your tone of voice, how you use your eyes, the way you greet people, the use of nicknames and remembering faces, names and dates. Little things add polish to your skill in dealing with people. Constantly, deliberately think of them until they become a natural part of your personality.
10. Develop genuine interest in people. You cannot successfully apply the foregoing suggestions unless you have a sincere desire to like, respect and be helpful to others. Conversely, you cannot build genuine interest in people until you have experienced the pleasure of working with them in an atmosphere characterized by mutual liking and respect.
11. Keep it up. That’s all — just keep it up!
I don’t know if he mentions this or not, but creating a “personal brand” should include things like not posting pictures of oneself doing stupid things, posting negative comments about one’s employer (even if that employer is a burger chain) and other things that might make a prospective employer back off.
All colleges need to do is enforce standards like attendance, showing up on time, submitting assignments on time, dress codes, writing, etc. They don’t. 1963 saw the “Cultural Revolution” where colleges went slob and stayed there.
Dr. Rick has some input:
As an old mason I had worked for 200 years ago used to yell, “All I want to see is asses and elbows, get to work!”
Those were the days. LOL
He would have been stacking up snowflakes like cord wood.
How about learning to actually use the phone to talk to people instead of playing “office” and shooting out emails and waiting for an answer.
Basic problem solving skills would help.
College is fine if your major is teaching you a trade that makes you valuable in the real world. Gender studies isn’t a valuable trade.
So, YOU’RE THE ONE!
When I was working near a UCONN campus in Connecticut, they offered nothing that was useful professionally. Nothing that would help me advance a career or find a job.
They should survey the job ads and look at the skills that employers are desperately trying to find instead of the fluff they currently offer.
Senior year in all high schools in the USA should be devoted to vocational training.
My first boss after college had a sign in his office that said “Management by walking around”. He taught me that paying attention and listening was key.
Listening meant what he said, really listening and being sure that the person you were listening to understood that you understood what their point was, and the that was your goal in talking with them.
The fact that you came to them help to show that interest.
No-one likes to be constantly jerked into the bosses office.
LOL, how true.
For many years I worked under the belief that the manager above me had the company’s best interest at heart which sometimes left me confused on the instructions I had been given or the work I had been asked to do.
When I decided that my manager did not have the companies best interest at heart BUT HIS OWN INTEREST were the priority.
There is a reason there are so many “brown noses” in a company, the mangers protect them and let the mavericks go.
(Only sightly tongue in cheek)
“I built a personal brand in the 90’s that I call “khaki wearing doofus” and it swept the nation, copied by legions of dads and middle managers.”
I was unknowingly a great follower of yours. I would like to think, though, that I surpassed the master as I wore khakis every day and my doofiness was the envy of many.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.