Personal Online Brand at Start of the Subject

Instructions: Reflective Journal

Develop a reflective journal about your personal online brand.
1000 words
Part A: Reflection on your personal online brand at start of the subject
Part B: Reflection on your personal online brand at end of the subject, plus a detailed action plan

Part A

Reflect upon your personal online brand before undertaking this subject: (The following bullet points must be clearly stated and answered.)

– How are you currently presented online?
– Is this how you would like to be seen by future employers?
– What would you like to change about your current online profile?

Part B

At the end of the semester, reflect upon your personal online brand following the information gathered via this unit:

– Relating to the content discussed during the semester (Look at the file named “Content to be used”), how has your view on your personal online brand changed?

– Action plan (Follow the “exact” template) – What specific steps will you take to develop your personal brand and improve your career status? (see example below)

– Reflect on your process of self-assessment and discuss any key thoughts, ideas or feelings or any other relevant information regarding your personal online brand

** The files named”Week …” should be used as references (not all of them but at least 5 of them.)

Other: Harvard – Page number is “mandatory” in in-text citation and in the reference list

Digital – Reflective Journal

The current global world has become highly competitive, necessitating individuals’ need to ‘stand out’ and make a positive contribution to prospective employers. They should ‘stand out of the crowd by differentiating themselves from others in their online brand (Brooks & Anumudu 2016, 23; Tarnovskaya, 2017, 29). Personal branding has become the way through which people are differentiating themselves from others and prove their competitiveness. Most personal branding researchers suggest that personal branding is critical for personal and career success (Khedher 2015, 19; Gandini, 2016, 123). People should understand that if they are not branding themselves, their competitors create their profiles and risk being defeated by rivals. Social media has made the ground for personal branding, and knowingly or unknowingly, individuals are creating profiles that will affect their future career prospects. Through reflection, I realized my personal online before and after taking the subject. Although some areas have changed, I have maintained a successful image that will influence my future career prospects.

Part 1: Personal Online Brand at Start of the Subject

Almost everyone has a personal brand due to the ease of access to social media tools and their importance in communicating with others. Before taking the course, I did not know that I created a personal online brand when I made a profile on social media platforms and kept posting information on them. I wanted the public to view positively, but I did not know I was creating a platform to market my skills and strengths. Historically, I thought like Labrecque, Markos & Milne (2011) that personal branding is something that celebrities and politicians did to be useful in their professions (p.37). However, I have social media profiles that I have been posting personal, educational, and potential career information. I have created an online brand without proper knowledge of what I was doing. After all, the development of Web 2.0 and the emergence of social media has made it easy for people to create personal brands. People seek an exact brand that sends the right message to information consumers (Edelman DC, 2010, 63). Since I joined social media, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, I have created a strong online brand.

I have always been careful about what I post on my social media profiles since they are public. Although I did not understand personal branding before the subject, I knew that social media helped me market myself to society. I agreed with many researchers’ observations that social media I use for personal marketing to others who view profiles (Brooks & Anumudu, 2015, 23; Khedher, 2015, 117; Kleppinger & Cain, 2015, 1; Johnson 2017, 21). Therefore, since I am communicating with others, I am always careful to ensure that the information protects my values and dignity. For example, I can never post any information that would disrespect me, such as nudity or a rude language.  I want anyone reading my data to understand my values and respectful opinions. My brand reflects my skills, abilities, and lifestyle. I have deliberately cultivated a digital presence, which markets me positively to society.

I would want my future employers to see my profile since it is positive and markets me as a respectful and competent person. Although I have not customized my profile to employment, it is positive and indicates my skills and abilities to play a critical role in my employment prospects. I agree with researchers that understanding my behavior online will affect the perception of others of me (Brooks & Anumudu, 2015, 24; Wetsch, 2012, 30). However, I would like to change the personal brand to customize it to my employment prospects. I can use Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to market my skills and abilities focusing on my career choice. Organizations can use the information in the hiring process and observe potential employees (Kleppinger & Cain, 2015, 1). I would like to include my strengths in the profile to communicate the message to potential employers.

Part 2: Personal Online Brand After the Subject

Various changes occurred at a personal level after studying the unit and learning that my online profiles can play a role in marketing my skills and abilities to potential employers.  I should ensure that the information contained sells me positively. After the unit, I will be conscious of anything I post in the profile to prevent anything that may negatively affect me. As companies undertake digital transformation, they need to have a human resource team that embraces the new developments instead of being stuck in traditional processes (Libert, Beck, &Wind 2016, 3). Therefore, I should market myself as a competent employee capable of helping organizations transform in the digital age. Companies are investing in digital transformation and expect returns (Hirji & Geddes n.d). I should be part of their investment returns when they collect information from my profile to support their strategic mission. People can use social media information to make crucial decisions, such as determining the quality of a product or service (Hughes & O’Regan 2018, 14). Similarly, employers can use the information to make hiring decisions.

Action Plan

I have conducted a self-assessment and reflection to ensure that my brand is appealing to potential employers. I view my brand management the same way as marketers do on their social media platforms. Marketers use social media to create positive engagement with consumers, who use it to make purchasing decisions (Hausman, Kabadayi, & Price 2014, 206). I established that potential employers would use the information in the same way consumers use to decide to buy a product or service. Thus, I will keep reviewing my profile to ensure that the information markets me to employers and increase my prospects of getting a job in the future. I will continue learning about the best practice in social media branding to market myself.  I will use the knowledge to review my LinkedIn account to remove any information that might affect my career negatively.

References

Brooks AK & Anumudu, C, 2016, ‘Identity development in personal branding instruction’, Adult Learning, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 23-29

Edelman DC, 2010, ‘Branding in The Digital Age You’re Spending Your Money In All the Wrong Places’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 88, no, 12, pp. 62-69

Gandini, A, 2016, ‘Digital work: Self-branding and social capital in the freelance knowledge economy’, Marketing Theory, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 123 -141

Hausman,A, Kabadayi S, & Price, K, 2014, ‘Consumer–brand engagement on Facebook: liking and commenting behaviors’, Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, pp. 203-223

Hirji, N & Geddes, G. n.d, What’s your digital ROI? Realizing the value of digital investments, PWC

Hughes T & O’Regan N, 2018, ‘Branding in a digital world: Discussion based on an interview with Paul Geddes CEO of Direct line Group,’ The Marketing Review, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 41-53

Johnson, KM, 2017, ‘The importance of personal branding in social media: educating students to create and manage their personal brand,’ International Journal of Education and Social Science, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 21-27.

Khedher, M, 2015, ‘An inspiring resource for developing personal branding phenomena, Marketing Review, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 117-131.

Kleppinger CA & Cain J, 2015, ‘Personal digital branding as a professional asset in the digital age. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, vol. 79, no. 6, pp.1-4

Labrecque, L, Markos, E & Milne, GR, 2011, ‘Online Personal Branding: Processes, Challenges and Implications,’ Journal of Interactive Marketing, vol. 25, pp. 37 – 50.

Libert, B, Beck, M &Wind, Y, 2016, How to Navigate a Digital Transformation, Harvard Business Review

Tarnovskaya V 2017, ‘Reinventing personal branding building a personal brand through content on YouTube’, Marketing, vol. 3, no, 1, pp. 29-35

Wetsch, LR, 2012, ‘A personal branding assignment using social media,’ Journal of Advertising Education, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 30-36.

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