Standing Out while Staying True
“What happens when people start to imagine each individual as a business?” is but one of the questions Ilana Gershon poses in her book, Down and Out in the New Economy (8). The idea of the self as a commodity, a valuable resource to employers beyond the time that one can contribute to a company is one that, I feel, thrives completely in the modern day. With incredibly personalized platforms through which individuals can find work (such as Indeed), establish professional connections (as with LinkedIn), and advance their personal career goals (CareerBuilder is great for that), it’s no wonder that, in order to stand out in a sea of profiles, one’s own must be truly unique. The trick of balancing your personality with your career goals becomes most prominent in this way.
What seems most important to me in developing my own, personal “brand” is highlighted by Gershon in the first chapter of the aforementioned book. She speaks about how advertisers develop brands for their goods, giving the example “if Diet Coke was a person, how would you describe that person?” (27). She goes on to give the example of a person claiming they are a genius outright. Instead of convincing you that they are, in fact, a genius, all they’ve done is told you what they think about themselves. To the contrary, a person that, as Gershon writes, comes up with “brilliant suggestions” has the possibility to convince you that they are worthwhile (or a genius)(27). I want to remain true to who I am without having to tell people what I am. I want them to figure that out for themselves, and whether or not that is easy for them to do depends highly on my personal brand.
As I navigate the plethora of careers available to me, the ones that I am most attracted to are those that allow for a great deal of creative freedom — that is, freedom to not only operate how I please but also whose workplace allows me to express myself to the utmost. With my brand, I want to sell myself as a competent worker while still retaining the parts of my personality and work style that I feel make me unique. Gershon warns that there are many difficulties in negotiating this line (33), yet successful negotiation will pay off.
Lindsey Pollak provides tips on how to present yourself online in her book, Getting from College to Career. Pollak points out that, because employers are checking online for information about potential hires, it is essential that the cyberspace version of you not only reflects your actual identity but is also welcoming to employers and job recruiters (38). Perhaps the most important thing to remember in establishing yourself online is that, as Gershon points out, doing so is entirely under your control (43). The things you post can reflect however much of yourself you see fit. For my purposes, it remains to be seen how much of myself I want (or need) to share and how much I may need to adjust in order to brand myself effectively.
