Jeremy McWhirter
SLJC Class of 2023
8 January 2023
Personal Branding Reflection
My personal branding project taught me much about my professional identity in the digital media market. I have created profiles and been active on many other social networking sites in the past. Those experiences are not very similar to the rigorous process of creating this website and LinkedIn. It is different because every font I chose, every image I selected, and every description I filled out was what a potential employer would see as a reflection of my professionalism and skills. As a result, I spent a lot of time rewriting and refining my personal mission and leadership philosophy on my website to have the exact impact I was hoping for. Each image was carefully picked, and I spent much more time redesigning the website’s color palette than expected. I went into quite a bit of detail to redesign the template I chose to make my site stand out yet remain professional. Every line, spacing, and heading on the site was tweaked many times until I was satisfied.
I found myself doing something similar while working on LinkedIn. I made sure my page was saturated with information, and I selected in detail the photos to be featured on my page. I learned that this social networking tool should be treated with a concentration on improving my career prospects and solidifying my personal brand. A person’s career and personal brand can benefit more if they can take the extra time to understand the importance of creating a detailed profile. This can be further amplified if you take it a step further by creating a personal website like we did, which will impress potential employers. This can make a huge difference when it comes to hiring because there is a possibility that there are two identically qualified applicants, but the one with the better personal brand is hired.
Another thing I learned from this project is exactly how to start building your personal brand. Personal branding begins when someone signs up for their LinkedIn or launches a website. A personal brand is underpinned by a strong network of collections, a diverse set of skills, and a well-curated profile. Personal branding is also essential in the workplace, not just for career reasons. They also help us distinguish one another from each other, leading to greater individuality and self-esteem.
After finalizing the website design and successfully modifying the template to highlight my personal brand, I felt a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that I was able to do it. While I learned a lot about personal branding through this project, I made mistakes along the way. For example, I started using WordPress over Weebly when I made my website; this would give me greater creative control, which it did. However, I found it much more challenging to use an unfamiliar service. It would have taken me far too long to create a website using WordPress, so I chose Weebly instead. Another problem I had was time management; finding a chunk of time took a lot of work. I was free to focus on my Personal Branding Project, but I eventually made the time.
The work has been exciting, but I have some suggestions for next year’s improvement. It would be helpful to provide next year’s class with more information regarding connecting your domain with the website you created. The problem that took me the longest to solve was getting the domain I purchased and connecting it to Weebly, as well as trying to enable SSL to get a secure certificate. If you were to include resources that explained this topic, it could streamline the project.
Overall, the personal branding project was an enriching experience. I had never put in this level of detail in creating a personal brand, but now I want to apply the lessons learned to the world of work. What I learned about building a personal brand will help me move forward in my career, and I am grateful for what this project has taught me.
“Reflection is one of the most underused yet powerful tools for success.”
– Richard Carlson