It’s that time of the year again, when my senior students start to feel intense pressure about “life after college.” In fact, it was a student who inspired me to start sharing the lessons that I was teaching in the classroom about the power of personal marketing through the U as A Brand section of this Web site.
This semester I have started to require students in my Sales Management course at Saint Vincent College to develop a personal branding portfolio. This assignment is a compilation of exercises learned in our new textbook, The Power of Selling (note the “Read This Book Online Now” button that allows for free online access). Kim Richmond authored this innovative publication and ends each chapter with a section on “Selling U” that covers topics such as personal branding points, effective cover letters and resumes, and networking resources such as LinkedIn.
Whether or not you are interested in a career in sales management, all of us are confronted in our lives with having to “sell” ourselves and our ideas. These concepts are especially important if you are one of the 4.4 million Americans who have been out of work for more than a year or a college student starting to seek job prospects. It is critical to leverage a multitude of social media tools to strengthen your personal brand position in this competitive market.
Recently, Anne Fisher published an excellent article in Fortune magazine about 10 ways to use social media in your job hunt. The article notes that 83% of employers now use LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to find new hires, according to a survey by recruiting platform Jobvite. It is a relatively simple (and free!) process to develop LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter accounts, and these are excellent platforms to showcase your talents.
Another recent article from Laura Raines in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution explains how to tweet your way to a job or more successful career. “Start by listening, monitoring and observing Twitter sites that are of personal interest to see what a conversation is like,” said Barb Giamanco, CEO of Talent Builders Inc., and co-author of The New Handshake: Sales Meets Social Media. “Before you begin responding to others or creating your own tweets, be clear about what you want to say and why. Establish your purpose and plan, and know your target audience.” Good advice whether you are focused upon traditional or Internet marketing channels!
I am frequently tweeting about new resources or articles on social media advances, so please follow me on Twitter to receive future updates.
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Great post. I absolutely agree. Perhaps if the students view themselves as a business and market / promote their qualities, talents, and experience accordingly they will gain better control over social media resources while elevating their own prospects.