By Ira Deshmukh, Career Community Ambassador

When you go into an interview, or walk into a school or work event, you are representing your core values, your vision, your journey up until that point and what you offer to the industry you belong to. Think of yourself as a company or an organization. Your brand is your reputation and character, a reflection of your work and the relationship you hold with your clientele. One of the best methods to win clients’ trust is through memorable branding.

1. Who is your audience? 

First step in building your brand is to identify who your target audience is. For instance, if you’re a student, your audience may be college recruiters, other students, and job recruiters. You can also segment your target audience depending on geography, industry and more. 

2.  Media Channels and USP

Once you have identified who you are targeting your brand towards, pick a media channel that is the easiest for you to network with said audience. For example, as a student targeting your personal brand towards job recruiters, your primary media channel may be LinkedIn. You can use this platform to post content surrounding your brand (the work you’re doing, any publications, etc.) and network with professionals from within an industry of your choice. Once you have a primary media channel, you must create a unique selling point of your brand. Include what it is that your brand is trying to convey in a line or two. Your USP can also be your vision for the work you want to accomplish or your core values. 

3. Brand Personality

A brand, for the most part, communicates the identity of the company. Consequently, figuring out the company’s personality is a crucial stage in brand development. As a student with a target audience as job recruiters, you could reflect a persona that is passionate, efficient, and hardworking, and using those words may help you in visualizing the kind of persona you want your personal brand to have.  

Lastly, an optional step but if you want to add a cherry on top, make a logo and slogan for yourself! This can include a headshot, a logo of the initials of your name or any value you want to use to represent your brand and a catchy slogan. If you need more details on building a brand, the career center has a resource library that has all the answers!