See yourself as a brand

The term personal brand may appear technical and that it should only interest marketing and public relations executives. However, no matter who you are and what you do, creating, maintaining and being consciously aware of your personal brand is essential.

© Stefan Rajewski - Fotolia.com

Background check

Believe it or not, more and more employers are visiting your social network pages to get a glimpse of the brand called 'You', before they actually make a decision to employ. How your image is publicly displayed could easily be the difference between landing your dream job, sealing a crucial business deal or not.

In case you still take social networking lightly, there have been a number of people fired or disciplined at work based on the posts that they have made on social networks. The argument is that what you do is a reflection of you and employers do not want to be associated with people of questionable reputations.

A personal brand can almost be equated to your reputation, how other people view you and what your name is associated with. Not only should your personal brand be reflected in how you present yourself in the social space but in all aspects of work and life. This is the season for end of year office parties and in as much as it's the time to celebrate the year gone by, you don't want to be known as the girl or guy who threw up on the marketing director, after having one too many.

A piece of advice, if you don't drink at all, don't start at an office party just because the booze is free. That can amount to career suicide and irreversible personal brand damage. Even if you drink and can handle alcohol relatively well, keep in mind that you are still in a working environment and you would not want anyone to have a lowered opinion of you based on your office party behaviour.

Build your brand

Be consistent in how you present your brand across all platforms. You want to build a brand based on credibility and that is uniquely you.

According to PWC, building personal brands should be about capitalising on one's strength and defining his/her individuality. "In building your personal brand, you will define your individuality, maximise your strengths and manage your choices now to create future opportunities."

Like any powerful brand, manage and invest in your image, be true to who you are, accentuate your strengths and let 'Brand You' flourish.