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(Ball State access only)

As a job candidate, it’s important to know how to differentiate yourself from the crowd. What makes you distinctive, and how do you convey that distinctiveness online, on paper, and in person? In this session, you’ll complete a few different writing activities aimed at helping you to find and articulate your “brand.”

Takeaway Resources

Speakers: Cathy Day

Link to PDF slides of presentation

Mindset

Read this by Amanda Stern, Why You Might Have Been Raised to be Helpless.  

Is your locus of control more internal or external?  

Keep your score in mind as you engage in career preparation activities!  

How you present yourself online, on the page, and in person is a reflection of your mindset, and it really is something that you can work on.  

Consider going back to our talk about Time Management or the recorded conversation between Professors Day and Didden about the Artist’s Statement if your locus of control is more external than internal, or if you have a more fixed mindset than a growth mindset.  

 

The Personal Branding Statement 

From Indeed  

10 Effective Personal Branding Statement Examples 

What is Personal Branding? 

 

Four Approaches to Writing a Personal Branding Statement 

From Marty Neumeier’s Zag, The Onliness Statement  

Skills Unique to Your Major, handout on Humanities Majors’ Transferable Skills 

From Katharine Brooks, You Majored in What? Designing Your Path from College to Career (btw, a great, great book), The Wandering Map activity. 

From Monster.com, Do you have a Personal Vision, Mission, and Values Statement? 

 

Your Goal 

Produce a branding statement that can be adapted into three sizes: 

Small for social media or taglines, one sentence or less, 3-10 words.  

Medium, a capsule bio or elevator pitch, 1-2 sentences, 30-75 words. 

Large, a kitchen-sink bio that could become part of your LinkedIn Summary or your application cover letter, a paragraph or 200-300 words. 

 

Check your Touchpoints 

Consistency counts.  

Integrate what makes you distinctive over all touchpoints (any bit of interaction or communication made between you and employers and people who might recommend you).  

  • Your conversations 
  • Your “please leave a message” message.  
  • Your emails (what you send and your replies) 
  • LinkedIn Profile and activity there. 
  • Blog posts you write or other bylines 
  • Your participation in group activities 
  • Your FB
  • Your Twitter 
  • Your Instagram 
  • Your website, blog, online portfolio 
  • Your business card if you have one. 
  • Your outward appearance 
  • Your resume and cover letter 

 

Assignment for Next Week 

Take the Focus2 Self Assessment! Here’s how.  

Take the ImaginePhD Self-Assessment. Here’s how.