3rd Week Learning Log - Personal Branding, CV & CL

20/11/2014

Topic for the third week was "How to market your self by using Personal Branding, Curriculum Vitae & Cover Letter." At first students were asked what do they mean by the term "Brand", some of the answers given were; That a brand is an identity, A symbol of recognition & an unique trademark.

When considering the formal definition for brand it clearly says the same, "A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's goods or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller."(Kotler, October 2013) According to (However IPO, 2014) brand is a "Promise of an experience" it is an assurance given about the quality and standards of a product or service to the customers by the company. Thus a brand for a company is not just a mere identity or a symbol but a valuable asset for their reputation.

(Montoya, 2014) declares that "Personal Branding is the powerful, clear, positive idea that comes to mind whenever other people think of you" It is a professional alter ego created to influence others perspective on how they recognize you. Ultimately it defines a person, his/her values, personality, abilities, & actions. (Montoya, 2014) further claims that Personal Branding tells, Who you are - What you do & What makes you different from others (How you creates value to the market).  

During the lecture students again discussed different ways of creating a personal brand, following are some of the answers that received acknowledgement from the lecturer:- 

• Personality - A persons' attitude, proper behavior & actions taken to respond
• Networking/Social Groups - The way how you deal within a group/team, how well you communicate & survive till the end.
• Presentation of Oneself - How well you project yourself in front of others & confident level
• Attire - Simply the way you dress, and the effort you've taken to dress according to the function or venue, this portray respect in certain cultures (eg-dress professional for interviews) 
• Curriculum Vitae - This is a method to market yourself to the potential employers 

(Brogan, 2014) states that there are 8 elements for a personal brand:-

1. Self esteem - confidence and self assurance 
2. Be yourself - honest in presenting the real you
3. Offer Value - what you can offer
4. A destination path - the way to connect you and know about you, using social media or contacting methods (LinkedIn/ email/ Twitter) 
5. Ideas - What you share with others
6. Innovation - How well you can create new things to market yourself
7. Growth - How you builds and learn constantly 
8. Communication - How well you communicate your purposes and character/abilities/interests 

In relation to (Montoya, 2014) An effective Personal Brand must evoke 3 basic perceptions in the minds of your target market:

• That you're different - differentiation is the most important aspect of PB, If you're not different from others then you become a follower, that makes your targets move away from you
• You're Superior - Your brand must give you a feeling of confidence that you are one of the best at what you do in someway. Being seen as a leader may positively effect your brand
• You're Authentic - Brand must be build on the truth value that you can offer, while presenting your strengths in order to gain profits. 

Building up an effective personal brand is not easy, it takes your time, effort & transparency also it should be done constantly. (Montoya, 2014) However when a successful personal brand is established it gives many benefits in return, such as:-

• Credibility Creation 
• Added perceived value 
• Recognition in greater levels
• Increased earning potential - business survival & growth
• Trend Building 
• Enhanced Prestige 
• Higher status level 

Cover Letter & Curriculum Vitae 

We all know that CV's and CL's are two vital components when applying for a job. Although a person excels in his/her education, knowledge or in gathered experience, if his/hers CV and CL are not presented accurately, non of the employers would even consider hiring them to their companies.

Therefore it is important to know what exactly these documents are, there proper structure & how to write these documents accurately. 

Cover Letter

This is known as the pre-eminence of a CV, which primarily highlights the contents of the CV. Mainly emphasize strengths and capabilities of the candidate and declares the necessity of the job for the applicant, and provide proof in order to influence the employers to hire the claimant. (Prospects UK, 2013) Also the interviewee is given a natural chance to depict his/her writing skills, style and descriptive abilities about oneself, to the employer.

A survey carried out in United States has found that 42.9% of the employers requested their candidates to apply with a cover letter. (University of Kent, 2014) Including details such as skills acquired by the applicant in relation to the job description, qualifications and responsibilities held & additional details from the CV. Therefore employers may investigate personal vision and uniqueness of the applicant, simply reading through the cover letter.

Writing a Cover Letter should be done carefully, (University of Kent, 2014) states their surveys have revealed that the: 

• 46% of the employers preferred half-page cover letters
• 24%  declared that the shorter the better will be
• and only 19% preferred full-page 

Now that you realize proving the worth of oneself within a half-page, is undeniably a challenging task. The following image will give several tips on how to write a proper cover letter:- 

In order to obtain a strong and accurate cover letter, applicant must gather background knowledge about the company, and also should highlight keywords and terms in the letter to take the sudden attention of the employer. Following image will depict an accepted format for a cover letter: 

(Binghmton University, 2014) 

Curriculum Vitae

This is considered to be an "outline notice of a person's educational & professional history" (University of Kent, 2014). CV's can be described as a special marketing tool designed to showcase and sell applicant's values such as: skills, capabilities, qualifications, strengths, objectives and previous experiences to the employer. CV's are regarded as legal proof for the employers, where they pay attention to the applicant's value preposition and hire them to their companies. Writing this document also need much thought and consideration in order to gain the maximum attention of the potential employers. 

(Prospects UK, 2013) declares that the main elements of a CV should be: 

1. Contact details - applicant's name, address, phone number & e mail address
2. Knowledge Coverage - Institutions attended and their relevant years, Exams qualified and the relation index numbers & professional qualifications (if any) 
3. Skills & Competencies - Interpersonal skills & Team work capability 
4. Experiences - Work related if any
5. Referees - 2 non-related referees who can assure applicant's credibility 

(University Of Auckland, 2014) have presented 7 general principles on how to construct an excellent CV, they are:

• Keep the CV concise, do not exceed 4 pages (2 pages would be appropriate) 
• When printing the CV do use clean and plain white paper (expensive shaded paper are not needed) 
• Font style, size, color and format should be professional and constant throughout the paper
• Don not use any slang words, abbreviations & casual words in CV
• Pin the CV from the top-left-corner of the paper to make photocopier easy 
• Include exceptional details or special achievements of yours in CV, make them noticeable
• Re-check spelling and grammar errors before submitting 

As mentioned above there can be various structures to write an "eye-catching CV" and I realize that these structures may vary from country to country, between companies, & in relation to the job that you apply. Below is the CV structure given by our lecturer:-

1. Introduction to yourself
2. Personal Objectives
3. Other bio details
4. Experiences regarding past employments/projects handled 
5. Acquired Skills 
6. Achievements from education, social & professional life
7. Personal values or theorems that describe yourself 
8. Institutions attended 
9. Extra activities done at clubs/societies  
10. Referees to prove your credibility 

Here is my CV prepared in during the class: 

The below image was distributed among the students by the lecture, to improve student's interest in writing an effective CV:- (Yong, 2013) 

I hope you enjoyed my 3rd week Learning Log :) Have a nice day, Thank you!!!

Topic related videos

References:- 

• Binghmton University. 2014. WRITING COVER LETTERS. [e-book] New York: Binghamton University. Available through: http://www2.binghamton.edu/career-development-center/quick-reference-guides/cover-letter.pdf [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014]

• Brogan, C. 2014. Personal Branding for the Business Professional. [e-book] Available through: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/img/broganbranding.pdf [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014].

• IPO. 2014. Intellectual Property Office - What is a brand?. [online] Available at: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/tm/t-about/t-whatis/t-brands.htm [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014].

• Kotler, P. (October 2013). Branding. ESP Conference 2013 (pp. 1-16). Hochschule Ulm: ESP Conference Press.

• Montoya, P. (2014). What Is Personal Branding? The Brand Called You , 11-22.
  
  
• Prospects UK. 2013. Cover letter samples and writing advice | Prospects.ac.uk. [online] Available at: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cover_letters.htm [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014]

• University Of Auckland. 2014. How to write a great CV - The University of Auckland. [online] Available at: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/for/current-students/cs-career-planning/applying-jobs-starting-work/preparing-cv.html [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014]

• University Of Kent. 2014. How to write a successful covering letter. [online] Available at: http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/coveringletters.htm [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014].