Career Advisory postgraduate studies – after the tenth meeting
Whether you are aware of it or not – you have your own personal brand. What shows up on Google when you enter your full name? The question is: will you get a second chance for a first impression? Additionally, ask yourself: do you want your online reputation to live its own life? Or maybe it’s worth controlling the narrative? With the spreading of social media and the development of technology, it is essential to adopt a personal branding strategy, as personal branding has never been so important. But how do you build Personal Branding intentionally? This question was answered by Sandra Bichl during the 10th weekend of the Career Advisory Postgraduate Studies.
Personal branding
The power of a personal brand – “Executive Identity” – is the difference between “Who are you?” and “Thank you for being here” in your career. Executive Identity influences standing out from the “competitors” as well as, for example, money-making abilities, the kind of offers that will come from the market, or how long it takes to find a job. Executive Identity is influenced by:
- your level of competencies = what you are good at
- your communication skills = in person, online (incl. writing emails)
- your visibility on the market = network, reputation, online, media
Sandra pointed out how important it is to evaluate yourself (and/or your client) objectively when it comes to competencies. Why? Because a survey of over 3 600 leaders who held various positions in different industries showed that – relative to lower-level leaders – higher-level leaders significantly overestimated their competencies (compared to the perception of others). In fact, this pattern was used for 19 of the 20 competencies tested by the researchers, incl. emotional self-awareness, appropriate self-esteem, credibility, and managerial productivity. Only 10-15% of the respondents correctly assessed themselves!
Personal Branding Model
Since 2010, more than 9,000 people have contacted Career Angels – thanks to this, we have access to:
- a very large amount of data
- numerous “behind the scenes” stories that headhunters / recruiters / HR will never find out due to the nature of their relationship
- 40% of customers come back after 2, 7 or 10 years
Thanks to this, we have a unique opportunity to observe the career development of people who have achieved “success”. We added quotation marks because everyone defines success differently! For almost 3 years, the Career Angels team analyzed the career paths of people who achieved success (or failed) to understand what exactly contributes to success or lack of it – this is how the Personal Branding Model was created; it consists of the following areas:
- goals and strategies
- competencies
- public speaking
- written communication
- online presence
- reputation
- savoir-vivre
- network
Building a coherent personal brand doesn’t happen overnight. During the weekend, students not only worked on their own assessment and strategy, but also saw how to work in these areas with their clients. Sandra also shared the “Personal Branding Kit“.
Reflections after the ninth meeting
“The meeting made me even more aware that we build a personal brand every day and it is a complex process.”
“During the meeting, I enjoyed the exercise when I had to enter my full name on Google and it turned out that I had an account on a portal from my school years, which I have forgotten about. It seems simple, but on a daily basis nobody thinks about how other Internet users see us”.
“As an HR manager, I realized even more how important it is to take care of the online image of my team. Personal branding of each team member affects the reputation of the entire company.”
“It’s hard to work with a client on their image if there is no clear professional goal!”
“I am very glad that we have developed so many specific and practical tools for working with clients – from auditing each area, to a set of good questions and a lot of useful exercises.”
“The comparison of the “empty manager / expert” to “average manager / expert” really hit me. We want to believe that well-developed competencies are the most important element and will be appreciated, but if nobody knows about me or about my client… if the client cannot talk about their competencies… then they will lose against other candidates who were able to sell themselves in a natural way.”
“I liked the sentence “Measure twice, cut once.” It is extremely important to consider “big” changes in your career, such as changing of industry, changing of profession, or leaving the corporate world to start “your own thing”… it requires a well-thought decision and good planning!”
“I am glad that during every meeting we can practice in a safe way and that we receive honest feedback.”
We will keep you informed about our students as well as the progress of our studies.
The enrollment for the 2022/2023 academic year has opened:
- study in Polish – details of the program
- study in English – details of the program
PS. read more about the other meetings:
Are you interested in this field and you don’t want to wait for the next edition? Follow information about our courses – also in-house – on this page:
https://careerangels.eu/become-a-career-consultant/
