Building a Brand is usually something you associate with companies, products, and even celebrities, but through the Parker Career Management Series, a weekly class in the Fall Quarter dedicated to developing career management skills, we have learned that building your OWN brand is a critical factor to your success.
- How do you want people to perceive you?
- What adjectives would you like others to use to describe you?
- How can you effectively project those descriptions in a short period of time (like 30 seconds)?
These are things that we are learning are not only critical for networking and interviewing, but for your career as a whole. Whether you are applying for higher education, a job, or just meeting new people, your ability to articulate who you are, what you value, and what your skills are can open new doors and opportunities that wouldn't have been available otherwise. This isn't something that stops when you get a job either; in some industries you have to effectively network and sell yourself within your company to gain a spot on a desirable project. Needless to say, time spent understanding who you are, what you value, and how you want others to see you is a valuable investment in your future.
If you are a prospective student knee deep in writing your essays or are still brainstorming ideas, this is a perfect opportunity for you to start thinking about your own brand. Who are you? What are your key values and beliefs? How do you interact with people and what kind of a lasting impression do you leave on them? If you can effectively and authentically convey this in your application you will make it significantly stronger. After you get into the school of your choice (hopefully UCLA Anderson) you can build on that to get the job of your dreams, or one step closer to it.
For readers out there I'd like to leave you with a challenge. Take 10 minutes for each of these questions:
- What do you value? What's important in your life?
- How do others perceive you? What adjectives would others use to describe you today?
- How do you want to be perceived?
After you've jotted down a few notes, think about how your chosen career path is in alignment with your values and what you can do to overcome any differences between how you're perceived and how you'd like to be perceived?
If you visit campus or have questions, be sure to ask students or our friendly Admissions staff about Parker Career Management Series and its pivotal role at Anderson.
Matt ('12)
'You friendly neighborhood Camper'
