Branding Yourself
With our interdisciplinary studies degree, we will have to be able to explain how our educational background will be beneficial to prospective employers. This exercise can help us to better express ourselves incorporating our interdisciplinary assets.
1. Read The Brand Called You http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html
2. After reading the article, reflect on who you are and incorporate into what you are
3. Please prepare an ‘advertisement’ (ie Tag Line- this one should be a hint as to, What you are) for this assignment you cannot be human, you can be an inanimate object (ie ruler, rubber, toy), a living thing other than human being or animal (ie oxygen/air, plant). This assignment should be not longer than 1 page and again should include at least two of your interest areas.
Use problem solving skills and approach this as an interdisciplinary thinker.
Branding yourself piece:
* What insights have you gained from this reading?
* How has this exercise helped you intergrate and understand how your areas/interests relate?
After reading the article The Brand Called You, I see what it takes to stand out within a crowd of people trying to get to the same high places as you are. Simply stating past job descriptions isn’t going to show who YOU really are. You must present yourself and your contributions to past places of employment or schools as the biggest and best thing out there, without lying about it. Find out what your best assets are and applying them to your life when describing yourself to an interviewer is what is going to get them to remember you. As for myself, I am a person that likes to see change for the better. Bring my focus areas of biomedical sciences and humanities as well as health sciences together to get a better understanding of people and their bodies; I am going to pursue a career in occupational therapy. Within this career I will be working with patients towards specific goals depending on their condition or problem. When preparing an advertisement for myself I would probably be a prosthetic arm or body part because I can help you get what you want. As for an ad.. Need help doing what you want to do? I can help! .. Not sure if I’m even in the right direction with this ad thing, but that’s what I got…
ReplyDeleteGood explanation! I really liked how you mentioned that people need to put themselves in the best light possible without lying about it. You also made a really good point of describing in an interview how your best assets have helped you throughout your life.
DeleteThe blog didn't allow me to make a new post (other people are having that issue as well...). anyway, Tiffany, your post is on the same page as what I was planning to say.I agree it is important to make yourself look good without fabricating your assets and accomplishments. I like your ad idea!
DeleteTiffany you did an amazing job. As for your ad I think for a prosthetic arm it should be: "need a helping hand?" but yours is great not to say otherwise! Good job.
Deleteexcellent Tiffany! Making yourself stand out from a crowd of people is the most important thing. employers have seen the same old basic resume all the time! it is good to have something different that other potential candidate have.Dare to be different!
Delete"The Brand Called You" reinforced the idea that it is important to make yourself look good to employers or schools while making sure not to make yourself seem more qualified than you really are. It is fine to present yourself in a good light, however, you do not want to fabricate your assets. I'm pursuing medical school, and I think that my areas of study make me a good candidate. My Behavioral and Social Sciences and Physical sciences, as well as my minor in Health Science, make me diverse and allow me to view things from a broader perspective.
ReplyDeleteYou have some great insights but what is your advertisement? What would be?
DeleteYea, making yourself look good is essential in life and your job but you have to be very careful about saying what you can do because if you make it seem as if you can do more then you could be in trouble when they expect you to do what you say you can do.
DeleteOf course in an interview you're trying to sell yourself, and it can accidently get a little too fluffed. Just state your main assets, because if you ramble on they're going to get lost or possibly not believe you.
DeleteI liked this article, I always like to stand out in a crowd but bragging about yourself is something I don't like so this helped with me understanding the distinguishing line between bragging and presenting your assets to be above others. I think my passion and love for nature is a great asset to getting a career. People can speak for themselves however the environment cannot and me being a nurturer, I am obligated to speak and help the environment. In all matters my background in engineering, and environmental studies and the politics side can help me to accomplish just that. As for my advertisement "I stand strong and tall and always a breath of fresh air!" I am an oak tree.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing. Instead of bragging about yourself, just make yourself stand out and that is what sets you apart. Just knowing you are great and being great are two totally different things.
DeleteThe Brand is what you have to offer, what do you bring to the table.employer will see right through you when your bragging about your self.
DeleteI've never heard of that quote before, I like it!!!
DeleteThis article was very insightful in coming up with ways to “brand” yourself. It does not tell you exactly what to do but it gives you the tools about how to do it. I think this is a better approach then giving you a bunch of examples. Planting seeds for ideas leaves more room for interpretation and personal expression. I would brand myself as a river. Always flowing and moving in one direction, never going backwards. I would have to say this is the best to describe the branding of myself. Rivers can be calm at times and rough in other parts. This is a great way to describe the way work flows and people too. Sometimes work gets rough and that represents when the waters would be rough. The river can also branch out and go in different directions which means that I am able to multitask not only in life but in the workplace as well. This exercise has helped me realize, that being at a job where you have to be interdisciplinary, it helps to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses.
ReplyDeleteI love your idea! It's perfect because you were able to say why you are like a river and relate it to your job. If I were your potential employer you would have definitely stood out to me if you told me something like that.
DeleteWith the state of today’s job market being as it is, I find it more important than ever to brand oneself. The take home message from this article for me was that we do not have to be defined by our job titles- just as big corporations rebrand themselves every so often, we as members of the work force should change our personal brand to make ourselves more marketable. The other thing that I found noteworthy was when the article pointed out that we are the leaders of ourselves. If we liken brand “You” to larger, well-known corporations, it is easy to see how we should be taking charge of how we handle ourselves (and how we are perceived) in the workplace. The article points out that our brand can be anything we want it to be, and since we are interdisciplinary students, we can use our diverse backgrounds to create the brand that works specifically for our needs. Since I am interested in therapy, I would use a map of the human mind as my prop. My tagline would probably be “peace of mind, better health.”
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article I have a better understanding on branding and what it takes to stand out with other people trying to get the same job that I am trying to get. If you are interviewing for a job just going in and just telling past jobs you had will not get you the job. Showing your real personality and listing past places you have worked and your college that you atteneded. When getting interviewed you need to show your personality and explain what type of person you are. Finding out your assests and applying them to real life is important. I am a type of person who likes to deal with sports and marketing issues and my IDS areas are perfect for that. In this degree I will be working with marketing businesses and discussing sports agencies. My advertisement "Cheaters never win and Winners never cheat".
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