I had the great pleasure today of leading a session on Personal Branding for Drexel University co-op students.  I’m not what one might call a “guru” on the topic, but I’ve essentially been creating a personal brand since 1998.  I also worked as a salesperson for a few years and have been through several job searches, so I have a good understanding of what it means to sell yourself.  Of course, now that everything is online, creating an image for yourself is easier than ever, but still takes a lot of work in terms of building relationships and showcasing your work.  A few years ago, when the fear hype about the web was at its peak (and it’s still pretty high!), I led a session for Bryn Mawr students about creating a positive profile online and this presentation was an extension of that.  There has been so much focus on people who put the wrong things online and on the extraordinarily rare occurrances of kidnapping and other similar crimes that few people stop to look at the positive side of putting yourself out there.  Yes, there are risks and yes, there’s sometimes a little filtering that needs to happen, but generally, good things accrue to those who take a risk and share information about themselves.  Potential employers can get a clearer picture of who they’re hiring and potentially someone might hire someone simply because they stand out from the crowd in some way.  Below are some of the points I covered in the presentation.  Feel free to add your own ideas–what’s worked for you?

Cross-posted at Emerging Technologies Consulting.

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