Graduates: Stand Out Using Your Personal Brand

  • 1 min read

You’re about to graduate college and join millions of other graduates in the competitive world of the job search. Of course, you won’t all be competing for the same jobs, but many of you will.

Now, more than ever, it’s essential to tailor your personal brand to your advantage. Here are a few ways you can use your personal brand to stand out among your fellow graduates:

Be consistent.

It’s important for your personal brand to always reflect your professionalism. In every aspect, both on and offline, you should represent yourself in the exact same way. Use the same professional photo on all of your social media platforms. Use the same name and username wherever it makes sense to do so. Use the same bio for all of the outlets you use. Consistency in your personal brand makes you more memorable to employers.

Be knowledgeable.

Prove you know about your industry by using social media to share relevant information. Look for industry trends and articles to share. Write your own content based on new things you learn about your industry. Sharing these things online and in-person can really increase your credibility compared to other graduates.

Be creative.

Showcase your talent by building your own website. There are plenty of free website builders to help you get started. Use your website to share your knowledge and your portfolio to potential employers. You get bonus points if you get your own personalized domain name. It’s not very expensive and gives your site a more professional image. In return, you seem more credible than your competition.

Be reachable.

Always provide employers with your phone number and email address. Both of these means of contact should be professional. Stick to a simple answering machine message, in case you miss someone’s call. Stick to a simple email address based on your name. These are not the places to be creative. Again, you get more bonus points if your email address is routed through your personalized website domain. You’ll stand out among the generic websites, and you’ll look a little more professional.

Picture of Heather R. Huhman

Heather R. Huhman

Heather R. Huhman is a career expert and founder & president ​of Come Recommended, a career and workplace education and consulting firm specializing in young professionals. She is also the author of#ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle (2010), national entry-level careers columnist forExaminer.com and blogs about career advice at HeatherHuhman.com.

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

The signs of a hard childhood rarely look dramatic by adulthood, therapists who work with trauma survivors say; more often it is a habit of apologizing before speaking, flinching at a raised voice that was never aimed at them, or checking that everyone else is okay before letting themselves relax.

The signs of a hard childhood rarely look dramatic by adulthood, therapists who work with trauma survivors say; more often it is a habit of apologizing before speaking, flinching at a raised voice that was never aimed at them, or checking that everyone else is okay before letting themselves relax.

Global English Editing
A national survey found that the share of men reporting they have no close friends at all climbed from 3 percent in 1990 to 15 percent by 2021, with the steepest rise showing up right around the age most men leave the workforce

A national survey found that the share of men reporting they have no close friends at all climbed from 3 percent in 1990 to 15 percent by 2021, with the steepest rise showing up right around the age most men leave the workforce

Global English Editing
People who apologize before anyone’s said what’s wrong may be doing more than displaying extra manners — research on parentification has found that children who grow up feeling responsible for a parent’s emotional state can carry that habit of anticipating, managing, and taking responsibility for other people’s feelings into their adult relationships, long after the household that taught it is gone.

People who apologize before anyone’s said what’s wrong may be doing more than displaying extra manners — research on parentification has found that children who grow up feeling responsible for a parent’s emotional state can carry that habit of anticipating, managing, and taking responsibility for other people’s feelings into their adult relationships, long after the household that taught it is gone.

Global English Editing
People keeping a secret reported hiding it in conversation far less often than it simply came to mind on its own, and it was those uninvited moments that went with feeling worse

People keeping a secret reported hiding it in conversation far less often than it simply came to mind on its own, and it was those uninvited moments that went with feeling worse

The Vessel
Picture next week and notice which way it runs, left to right, or toward you, or away, because whichever answer you just got, there are people who grew up finding a completely different one every bit as obvious as yours

Picture next week and notice which way it runs, left to right, or toward you, or away, because whichever answer you just got, there are people who grew up finding a completely different one every bit as obvious as yours

The Vessel
There are things about a life that are worth keeping to yourself even with people you trust completely, not because there is anything shameful in them, but because privacy is one of the few forms of ownership nobody can take from you once you have given it away.

There are things about a life that are worth keeping to yourself even with people you trust completely, not because there is anything shameful in them, but because privacy is one of the few forms of ownership nobody can take from you once you have given it away.

Global English Editing
Load more
CATEGORIES
Explore