What is one personal branding tip that you have for graduates or entry-level job seekers?

I remember a candidate being interviewed in a department that I had worked in. She had posted some Tweets that raised a few eyebrows from people in our office. In fact, the bosses didn’t pay close enough attention to her social media footprint, but some of my colleagues decided to look her up and saw that she had a history of publicly criticizing her bosses from prior internships on that channel. In fact, she called them names that wouldn’t be acceptable had she called them those names in an office setting. Her personal “brand” was speaking her mind and not caring about the consequences. Her personal brand didn’t seem to make her a good fit in our organization. It cost her a great opportunity. That’s the best advice I can offer anyone. Don’t let your personal brand get too nasty or make you come off like a malcontent. Potential employers may see something on your social media platforms that raise too many red flags.

One of the best personal branding tips that every graduate or entry level job seekers should know is to always be friendly, but never fake when working on their own personal branding. Going into the open job world straight out of college or high school can be a daunting task. It's extremely common that most new job seekers would want to be as personable and likeable as possible for interviewers, employees, managers, etc. However, it should never be encouraged to fake being nice or agreeing with a person if they are being very rude or out of line with their behavior at work. All new graduates and job seekers should strive to be as friendly as possible, but it's also very important that they don't fake their own attitudes, behaviors, or words to impress the interviewers.

It's easy to put off building your personal brand because you feel too inexperienced or like you don't have any credibility. Ignore that feeling and get started on your personal brand now! Write or post about your learnings, struggles, or successes. Though you might not be able to build a brand as a seasoned, experienced leader, starting now will help you build a tribe.

Try and get as specific as you can when applying for entry-level jobs. Recent graduates may have a decent amount of experience, but it’s often spread out in different industries or spaces. It’s also common for recent graduates to not know exactly what they want to do, which is completely normal. To best brand yourself, consider creating different resumes for each type of role you’re gunning for. At the end of the day, recruiters only look at the experience that’s relevant to the role they’re handling. Meaning, the more specifically tailored your resume is to the role, the higher your chances of landing an interview. So when applying to entry-level positions, get hyper-specific.

TikTok is rapidly becoming the new LinkedIn, a game-changing platform for transmitting your professional expertise in a fun and subtle way. No, TikTok is not just a digital haven for carefree Gen-Z hopping on the latest dance trends. TikTok is effective in building streamlined audiences, enabling you to build a reputable online persona tied to what you studied in school. By consistently pushing out entertaining content that educates people on your field, you can build substantial visibility in your space, consolidating your authority as the go-to destination for insights in that field. This illuminates your capacity, getting you more on the eyeballs of recruiters and companies hiring people with your skillset. With such an authoritative (and targeted) presence on TikTok, you can enjoy more bargaining rights in salary negotiations because the competition for you is higher.

This best advice I can give to get in front of your ideal employers is to be active on platforms where your ideal employers actually are! If they can see you engaging in healthy discourse, giving opinions and sharing knowledge, then you already have more of an 'in' when you inevitably reach out to them about a job role.

To separate yourself from everyone else, you need to have a unique value proposition that sets you apart from others, one that is not too generic. You want to be remembered when your resume goes into a giant stack with others. Here is how you can start to identify the strengths that you can build into your brand: 1. Identify what you think of as your strengths: Consider what you have done in the past that was exceptional and make a strength list for yourself to reference. 2. Ask your network: An exercise that could help you discover your strengths is asking 5–10 people in your personal and professional network to let you know what your strengths are from their perspective. This will help you increase your self-awareness of how others perceive you. 3. Select the strengths to focus on: Once you’ve identified your strengths, finalize the ones that make sense for you to move forward with that you want to tie into your brand.

Graduates and entry-level job seekers should highlight their achievements and successes on their resumes. Many of us are so focused on emphasizing the skills we have, or our ability to learn new ones, that we forget to highlight the things we’ve already achieved. Listing your achievements shows future employers that you’ve already been successful in prior roles, and that you’re motivated to continue working hard. Also remember to use action verbs to describe your roles, such as managed and led, instead of the more passive managed by. This will help your resume stand out among others.

Social networks will come and go throughout the internet. We're seeing that right now, but what won't go away is your own website and ensuring that you buy your own domain it will always be - YOURS. Then you can use a platform, a linktree, squarespace, wix wherever - just make your own website so you'll always have it to refer people to. The rest of the web will move/evolve/adjust but you can always send humans to that domain name.

A personal brand can be built on any platform, but none rival LinkedIn. It's so much more than an online resume. People are networking, learning and getting career opportunities every single day. This is actually easy to do on LinkedIn because the community is genuinely engaged, supportive and fun. To get started, turn your profile to Creator Mode. Add a nice photo and fill out your headline and featured sections. Then, make your first post introducing yourself! Share that you're building your personal brand and ask for advice. Start posting regularly and people will come out of the woodwork to welcome you and share insights. Start following other creators and leave thoughtful comments for 15 minutes per day. You'll see your network naturally grow this way. Building my personal brand on LinkedIn has brought a lot of enjoyment and so much opportunity into my life, from treasured networking connections to a book deal offer. I wish I'd started investing there as a new graduate.

For many who are early in their career, the trickiest part about creating their personal brand is that they don’t quite know who they are as a professional yet. Many people are still feeling out exactly where their strengths and interests lie in the early years of their career, and if you don’t know yet what defines you as an employee, you can’t express that to others. This is why it can be helpful to ask your professors, managers, coworkers, and fellow graduates how they would describe you. This outside perspective can help you identify how you present yourself in the workplace and what types of roles you excel in, something that can take time to learn how to correctly identify for yourself. Talking to professors and mentors can be especially valuable since these are people who have already been through the process of developing their personal brand, and can give you guidance on the steps they took to do so.

A blog makes an impression like no other, and even freshers can create their blog and commit to regular posts as a part of their personal branding. Firstly, committing to a blog shows that the candidate is dependable and willing to put in the consistency and hard work required to maintain a blog. Secondly, the blog content also serves as a validation for all the information and claims that a candidate makes in their resume. With industry-related insights that showcase their interest to even stories related to challenges that reflect their determination to fight against the odds, a blog serves as a perfect platform for creating a personal brand that stands apart from the competition.

Employers want to know that a potential candidate will be willing to make the extra effort, so when you are trying to establish your brand it is critical that you customize your cover letters. A template or obvious “mass” cover letter sends a very clear message that attention to detail or going that extra mile is not part of your brand. Customizing your cover letter to each individual position by identifying specific qualities of the business, naming your corresponding attributes, and emphasizing relevant experience and skills, shows that your personal brand is about effort and commitment. In addition, you can also add aspects that will display your personality. By taking the time to customize your cover letter for each position, your work ethic will shine through in your brand, which will in turn motivate them to take a closer look at your application.

Be yourself. When creating a personal brand, it's so important to be authentic. People need to know the real you, not the social media version of you. Don't be afraid to be honest about both your strengths and weaknesses. An authentic employee who is self-aware is someone I would want to hire.

LinkedIn is a great platform for seasoned professionals as well as newbies who are only beginning their careers. College graduates and entry-level job seekers can add several essential details to their LinkedIn profiles to give employers and HR teams an added incentive when choosing their next batch of employees. A great headline helps catch their attention. Details related to internships or previous work experiences (even part-time or voluntary stints) give employers some background on the kind of employee you will make. Links to other social media handles will give HR teams an idea of how clean your online presence is. And noting your skills and matching your resume to these details help too. All these elements add to your profile, giving your personal branding journey an impressive start.

My advice for those struggling with personal branding is to stick to a niche and become 'known' on a specific platform. For example, if you're looking to target a B2B audience and be seen as knowledgeable toward potential hiring managers or company owners, then LinkedIn would be a fantastic place to share your knowledge due to the people on the platform, and the content they’re likely to react positively towards.

Refuse to be anything other than a genuine brand! In other words, build your brand with transparency. For example, don’t lie about your skill set or lie on your résumé. Own your true narrative and the message of your brand, by leading with honesty. If you don’t, you’ll likely end up digging yourself out of holes and being several steps behind the place you could have been if you were candid. Why not instead, present yourself as the imperfect, fabulous human that you are!

My top personal branding tip for graduates and entry-level job seekers is to build relationships. Networking is a powerful tool, especially in the early stages of your career when you’re still trying to establish yourself. Take every opportunity to meet people in your field – attend events or conferences, join professional organizations, and reach out to people who are doing what you want to do. When people know you, it’s much easier for them to recommend you for job opportunities or help connect you with the right people. Building relationships can open a lot of doors for your career and give you an advantage over other applicants. So don't be afraid to get out there and start making connections.

One personal branding tip for graduates or entry-level job seekers is to focus on building a strong online presence. This can include creating a professional website or blog, maintaining an active and professional presence on LinkedIn, and publishing content or articles related to your industry or profession. Having a strong online presence can help you stand out to potential employers and establish yourself as a thought leader in your field. It can also help you connect with other professionals and build your network.

Your values and what is important can play an important role when you are job seeking, yet you need to live in the real world and this is why you should research businesses before designing your personal brand. Displaying a brand that reflects your values is necessary, but if there is a disconnect between that and the industry you most desire to be a part of, you can hurt your chances in drawing their interest. Therefore, it is critical that before designing your personal branding to research businesses in your desired industry, take note of their values as well as what they currently need. Then after identify your corresponding values and qualities, get them to as closely match those business needs. In taking this reverse engineering approach, you will touch on the algorithms of candidate search engines and better draw the interests of prospective employers to get that entry-level job.