­­­­­­­­­­­Lately I’ve written a lot about how I have adapted to life in the US. While writing an email last week to a senior professional from whom I was requesting a meeting, it struck me how much I have adapted professionally as well. While I typed out a brief paragraph summarizing my professional background, I also included a list of social media sites that reflected another side of my professional development, giving the email recipient the liberty to look through, if he wanted to learn more.

I would probably have not included links to my Twitter and LinkedIn pages, and links to my Personal blog and Indian Recipe blog, if I were writing the same email to someone in India. I’ve realized that in the professional networking area in US, there’s a greater regard for a person as a multi-dimensional individual. In India, people’s professional achievements coupled with their academic background, forms the ‘first impression’, with room to look at what one may do beyond ‘work’, at a later stage in the professional relationship. While I am not in favor of one over the other, I am simply voicing the differences in light of my transition as a professional in a new country and business culture.

The need for personal branding

As soon as I moved here, I started looking for a job, and it became essential for me to create an online presence for myself, not only for recruiters, but also to highlight my presence among the local marketing community. I started attending several networking events and meeting professionals for tips, guidance and constructive criticism on my resume, etc. and it became important for me to be easily searchable, so people I introduce myself to and arrange meetings with, can find the right information about me.

Thus began my exploration into Personal Branding. I first learnt about the concept via Twitter from Dan Schawbel. At first I didn’t relate to the concept. To me, what I had achieved professionally so far was essentially my ‘personal brand’. So why all the hype? Did it mean, that because I didn’t have a popular professional blog, or a profile on at least 3 more social media networks, I didn’t have a Personal Brand?

Of course I already had a Personal Brand. The people who mattered just didn’t have a way of knowing that. Different people have defined Personal Branding in so many different ways. To me, the concept simply is a term that represents the act of actively and aggressively managing your online presence – and that too solely because we live in a society where recruiters are looking you up online, before considering you for the job you just applied for. Because you are not just who you are on your resume but much more a human being, which has a direct bearing on your professional performance. Because your ‘personal brand’ is not linked to your having a job and that with or without one, you have your own separate identity. And because verbalizing your ideas and presenting it online in a way that is in line with intrinsically who you are, is considered today in our culture okay, and not perceived as narcissistic.

How Personal Branding helped me

There are several steps I took, and many tools I used to manage my Personal Brand (including reinforcing the fact that I am not a Photographer by profession!). But that is another blog post altogether. The process however has helped me tremendously. Here’s how:

1. Personal branding helped me get my first non-academic internship – I learnt about an available internship position through Twitter and was sent an email inviting me for a phone interview owing to my LinkedIn profile and my Indian Recipe Blog.

2. Personal Branding helped me build my network – The benefits of building my network cannot be emphasized more. Not having a social circle of my own affected me professionally since I didn’t have a peer group to learn from or discuss ideas with. My efforts toward taking connections from the virtual to ‘real-life’ space, made me meet some truly great professionals who have been a source of advice, information and knowledge. Some contacts have even offered to connect me with their contacts, further enriching my networking experience.

3. Personal Branding helps set the tone for certain types of interviews – Barring interviews with any Fortune 500 company – who tend to have highly specialized marketing role-definitions, and hence highly focused interviews – Personal branding often helps set the tone for your interview. Interviewers are able to gauge your skills from your presence online, which helps them frame questions better. For example, at a recent interview for a general marketing role, I was asked what I learnt about Wordpress, through my blogging experience. It allowed me to talk about a whole part of marketing that was self-taught, conveying a different dimension about my personality to the recruiter.

4. Personal Branding helps me stay focused on my job search – Because I have an online presence for all to see, it makes me more diligent about blogging regularly and maintaining a consistent image across my visibility points. This keeps me grounded in my job search.

5. Personal Branding helps me learn about Marketing Communications - Most importantly, Personal Branding is a wonderful learning tool. Participating in LinkedIn discussions, conversations around Blog posts and exchanging ideas with people on Twitter, all provide a platform for great discussions that only lead to a broader and deeper perspective on the ever-changing field of Marketing.

How have your Personal Branding efforts helped you professionally?