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Tag: branding

  • Brand Yourself: Why It Works

    Brand Yourself: Why It Works

    You are special. You have unique gifts, talents, and qualities to offer the world. You know this, your family and friends know this – but does the world? This is the question you need to ask yourself, because when you enter the job market after graduating from university or college you will be a small fish in a big pond, and there are a lot of fish in that pond!

    In today’s knowledge-driven society, most people have a post-secondary education. In fact, according to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, “in 2011 about 53% of Canadians aged 15 and over had trade certificates, college diplomas, and university degrees – an increase of 20 percentage points since 1990.” In other words, educational attainment will no longer set you apart from the crowd or give you a huge advantage over your competition.

    What’s the solution to this conundrum? Brand yourself! Whether you realize this or not, others are always branding you in their minds according to the image you project (consciously or unconsciously). According to the Business Insider, “human brains are wired to do this as a ‘short cut’ to make sense of the world. Without short cuts life would be confusing, complicated, and in some cases dangerous.” Your brain does you a favour by simplifying the world as much as possible.

    Indeed, the Boss Ladies report that it takes less than 30 seconds for an individual to form a lasting impression of you, and a whopping “20 further experiences with a person to change a negative first impression [someone has of you].” In addition, since employers receive, on average, between 75 and 105 applications for every job opening, they spend only 15-30 seconds reviewing each application – so they make almost a snap decision of whether you’re fit for the position or not. But don’t get stressed out about these statistics or feel defeated. You can take control of your “brand” and how others perceive you, and knowing this is the first step to creating the image you want to project.

    Tom Peters coined the term “Personal Brand” in his book called The Brand Called You. Your personal brand is your reputation and the public perception of who you are: your personality, values, and skills. People will decide whether they like you, trust you, and feel comfortable around you based on this judgement of who you are, regardless of who you really are as a person deep down inside. In fact, this snap judgement is very superficial. Your job is to make sure that the image you project to the world is authentic and relates to whom you really are.

    An authentic personal brand is a strong brand. You must take the time to get to know yourself on a deep level – who you are, what are your likes and dislikes, what are your values, etc. — so that you project a strong and consistent brand to the outside world. A strong brand is a powerful tool and will help you to stand out in the minds of others in a positive way. You can feel at ease and confident that the image you’re projecting on a daily basis is the image you want others to see.

    So, “always look put together,” says Divine Caroline. “You never know who you’ll meet at the grocery store.”

  • Job Skills: Get Factual

    Have you ever seen someone who has the skills to juggle knives or walk on a tightrope? How about someone who can remember large amounts of information? The first two skills are unlikely to lead to a job, except for perhaps entertainers and circus performers. The third one, however, could lead to a job in many different areas, such as acting, teaching and working as a doctor or nurse. That’s because all of these jobs require a lot of information that people can remember in an instant. Almost any kind of ability can lead to a job, but you need to know how to translate the things you can do into skills that can help you find a job.

    When employment experts talk about job skills, they often talk about hard skills, soft skills and personal branding. Personal branding could include what people do at work or school, but also who they talk to and what they do in their spare time. Volunteer work, writing blogs and other daily activities can help develop both your personal brand and skills that will help you find work in the future.

    Soft skills are a lot like personal branding. These skills include things like an ability to get along well with people or to organize information. If you can easily get a lot of different people to work together to get projects done on time, that is a soft skill you can use in many different jobs. You could eventually manage a store or an office with a skill like this. Often these skills will help you get and keep good jobs.

    Hard skills are practical, measurable skills that people use every day at work. They could be things like an ability to type at one hundred words a minute or to use a welding torch. They could include the ability to speak French or to drive a large truck. These skills relate directly to whatever the job is about. They help people get interviews and to do the work if they get the job.

    Almost every job requires a combination of hard and soft skills. If you want to work as a teacher, you will need soft skills such as an ability to communicate with others and to lead groups. However, you will also have to know the subject matter you are teaching, whether that is English literature or addition and subtraction. When you apply for jobs, hard skills will probably be the ones you should emphasize, but they are not the only ones you should develop.

    Hard skills are important, but your soft skills might be just as necessary. If you can show how soft skills like getting to work on time will help you get the job done well, that might be all you need to land the job. Almost any skill you have can lead to work. They key is to find out what employers want and to match your hard and soft skills to the practical, everyday requirements of the job.

  • Athletic Scholarships and You

    Athletic Scholarships and You

    The road to college for ordinary senior high school students commonly includes the dreams of big scholarships to top universities. This is particularly true in the opening years of senior high school, just before the reality of grades and athletic competition emerges as a reality. The unfortunate fact is that typical athletic scholarships are a lot more challenging to earn than ever before. Particularly to ones top choice school with some of the most popular athletic teams.

    This doesn’t suggest that a young competitor has to shelve the hope of obtaining a scholarship, but it most certainly means that they should expand the range of appropriate universities and have some tuition back-up plans just in case they only obtain partial help. It’s equally crucial to recognize that several of the sports are much more competitive than others. Scholarship choices are still created by individuals and in that case marketing and salesmanship is still essential at the same time. Unless the youthful competitor is an absolute rising superstar, they will need to relate a compelling tale about their abilities and make an aggressive case for the style of scholarship they prefer. Here’s an excellent rule to follow – if your young athlete is presently being sought by scouts from multiple colleges and universities, you have very little to fret about. In all other instances you will have to advertise and present a convincing account about your rising star.

    Step one is acquiring information and carrying out research on the programs you’re interested in. Each and every university will have varied scholastic requirements. No amount of athletic skill will completely rise above a failing academic record. You really should become familiar with the coaching staff at each university or college and start reaching out to these people with e-mails and letters. You want them to become accustomed to your youngster’s name and maturing skill. You will need to create highlight reels and profile pages using an on-line company.

    The process of getting sports scholarships is no longer only about be the superstar high school athlete. There are many alternate techniques and success in applying for scholarships now includes a component that is almost like image management. Undoubtedly some athletic capability will be called for, but know-how of exactly what is available and the ability to promote yourself is essentially just as essential.

    If one understands that it might be necessary to put together a portfolio of scholarships and accolades to offset university fees, then the field of possibility instantly broadens. There are a host of smaller awards based upon athletic and scholarly requirements. As a matter of fact, some might not even require that the student play the sport on the official university team, which would really surprise most inbound freshman.

    Finally, historically underprivileged minorities or females might also have resources obtainable in exclusive scholarship categories. Again this falls in the category of blending a selection of awards to balance out as much tuition as feasible. However, one thing is apparent across the board – that each student will have to present themselves in the best possible light. The presentation, marketing and telling of an interesting story about your youthful student is almost of equivalent significance to the actual performance during the course of high school.