Posts Tagged ‘ Career ’
When I started this blog, I didn’t have a clear idea what I wanted it to be, but I knew that I wanted it to be a place to canvass my thoughts and learning journey as I embark on my working life. I also wanted it to be a place where I shared what I’ve learnt and what I knew so far.
And there I have my answer. That’s what my blog is going to be. A place to canvass. Read more
I didn’t get into the next round for The West’s cadetship.
Oh well. I’m disappointed, of course, but at least now I know where I’m headed.
That and I AM having quite a bit of fun at my current job. =) So maybe it’s meant to be after all.
And there is always another time, another test.
If you’re curious as to what I do for a living at the moment, it’s okay. What I’m doing is still currently being defined at my current job. As you can see on my “About Me” page, I do take on various roles at my job that include being a trainee manager and consultant. I also do a lot of project management, social media marketing and consulting. Other than that, my current company is also starting up a Creative Services division, and I’m part of the team working on it.
All that aside, what does it all mean? And why is it still being currently defined?
Apologies for the long absence from this blog. I’ve been pretty swamped in the past week with work as well as with studying for the West Australian cadetship test that I sat for this afternoon.
I didn’t want to mention it to too many people in case I jinxed my chances, but now that it’s over and done with, I don’t mind blogging about it.
In my previous post, I talked about the whys of personal branding. In this post, I’m going to detail the hows. I’m my own little personal experiment and case study, and this is how I’m going to define and record this whole exercise.
This is what I’ve done so far, as well as what I intend to do:
1. Be clear about what I want my personal brand to be about
This blog is still a work in progress, as I’m still feeling my way around it and trying to figure it out myself.
But what I am clear of at this moment is this: Careerwise, I’m decently happy where I am at the moment. The company I’m working for and the work that I do with it currently allows me to utilise my public relations and journalism training. More importantly, it allows me to integrate all my other unquantifiable skills and experiences into the work I do. It can be quite a challenging job at times, but I’m learning tons, and that’s what matters at this point in my career.
On the other hand, me starting up this blog was also to help establish myself as a writer-for-hire. This also ties back into the following points of me finding my niche and developing it, as well as me updating regularly so that I get to polish my writing here. After all, if you don’t use it you lose it, right? And practice makes perfect!
Plus, looking at how long winded my sentences have been of late, I so do need that practice.
Old self portrait
That’s one of the whole points of me starting up this blog.
I’ve read many cases for personal branding using all that new media has to offer. It’s a way to put yourself out there, and can act as an online resume and as a showcase of what you’re capable of. It can both display your achievements, as well as highlight the skills and personality traits that you can’t quantify in a standard resume. In today’s competitive job markets, having an easily accessible online profile will give you an extra edge. Plus, it is becoming more and more common for employers to Google potential employees, just to check up on the kind of person they are.
Reputation is become a massive commodity, and the whole practice of Personal Branding is an attempt to control that commodity.
These are among all the many reasons and many ways new media and career coaches will give for a person to start a blog, join Facebook and Twitter, as well as one of the many social networking services. And I’m sure that in your online travels, you have heard about the need for personal branding at least once.
But what are my own reasons for personal branding?