Dr. Vivekananth Padmanabhan HOD (ICT) | Head of Internal Quality Assurance Cell
You are completing your graduation and going for an interview for your first job.
The interviewer is starting with the popular question “Tell me about yourself” What will be your answer?
The answer depends on who you are and how prepared you are.
Let’s imagine there are 2 candidates John and Derrick, both of them completed bachelors in Information technology and looking for a suitable job as a fresher, John is a mediocre student and he studied his bachelors due to pressure from his parents and he has applied for the job just to lead a life whereas Derrick is also mediocre in studies but Derrick has passion in IT and did certifications and went for internships during his study time.
John answers “I am John a graduate in IT and I completed my graduation in 2022”
Derrick gets passionate about answering the question he says
“I am Derrick and I had a passion for programming right from childhood which made me choose a career in IT, I did certifications in Java programming and I was also part of a team that made a ‘Weather reporting system’ IoT-based weather reporting system is specifically designed to facilitate the reporting of weather parameters over the Internet, I used Java programming for the project”.
Whose response was impressive?
Obviously, it was Derrick.
Why was the response impressive?
Derrick was able to brand himself authentically based on his unique strength which was his skills in programming.
What is personal branding?
Personal branding is the process of creating and developing your unique identity based on your unique talent and strength.
Let me ask you a few questions.
Have you Googled your name before?
You may discover that others share your name. But when you do see mentions of yourself, do they reflect the image you wish to project to the world?
What about your offline personality? how do people see you? Are they able to link who you are as a person with the ideals you uphold?
The way you market yourself is through your personal brand. You want the world to see you as a unique mix of your skills, experiences, and personality. It’s how you tell your story and how it shows how you act, what you say and don’t say, and how you feel.
Your personal brand is how you promote yourself. You want the world to see you as a unique blend of your skills, experiences, and personality. How you tell your story shows how you act, what you say and don’t say, and how you feel.
Why should you create your own personal brand? How does it help your career?
Your personal brand can be very important to your career. It’s how you present yourself to current and potential clients. It gives you the chance to make sure that people see you the way you want them to, not in a random way.
Why do we adore celebrities and big entrepreneurs? It is because we identify them based on their unique personal brand.
Steve Jobs used personal branding to distinguish himself as the face of Apple long before the term was even coined. Elon Musk was able to create his unique personal brand as a visionary and inventor.
Is creating your own personal brand simple? It is simple but not easy.
Constructing a unique identity for oneself calls for a great deal of introspection and inward-looking. Knowing oneself is helpful, yet strangely few people can say they do. Most people have a hard time describing who they are, but they have no trouble describing who they want to be.
How to create your unique personal brand?
1. Find out your passion
Your personal brand should reflect and align with your likes and interests. What do you want to do, and what characteristics and qualities express your passion?
For example, if want to be a professional speaker you should market yourself as a person with great public speaking skills and a passion for speaking.
2. Branding your authentic self in social media
Create profiles on social networking sites that reflect your interests. Optimizing your LinkedIn profile to reflect your interests, skills, and goals is critical. If you use Facebook and Twitter, make sure your profile and the information you share on those platforms are consistent with your personal brand’s overall tone and message.
3. Tell your unique story to the world
Do you have your unique story to tell the world? What makes your story interesting?
Consider what makes your story unique: did you take an unusual path to get where you are now? Has your career taken any interesting detours? How have your life experiences influenced your career choices? The more vivid your story, the more compelling your personal brand will be.
Your personal brand is your unique identity and uniqueness that makes you authentic, special, and successful in your personal and professional life.
