Do you know your personal "brand'?

[shootingstar]

This seems to be current topic for those looking for employment or looking to ratchet up their career to the next level. It is also a topic for bloggers in terms defining one's own personal blog focus, personal "voice" in their blog.

Frankly I find it annoying to read articles cultivating a personal "brand". It sounds too calculated (to me). But may be it's helpful to someone younger and just finished their studies.

But if I were to REALLY figure out my personal brand or how I appear to others, it depends who you ask. Or if the person knows you face to face.

I think I know my personal brand or how I appear to people who only know me distantly, ie. work colleagues, blog readers and probably not all of it, is pleasant.

[Crankin]

Well, what do you want your "brand" to be? If you think it might not be pleasant to some, are you OK with that? Voice is very much a construct that attracts readers to written material. We all have a voice or "brand," which is really just another word for it. Why does this annoy you? It does help to think about how you project yourself to various audiences, whether it be through writing, speaking, or even the way you are dressed. These are all things that help others decide if and how they want to connect with you. Humans generally seek to be around others with whom they have something in common. So, if you are applying for a certain type of job, in a certain environment, it probably does help if your brand matches that of the employer.
I think this even more important for older people wanting to up their career, or change fields. I certainly thought about it when applying for my first job in my new career and it was definitely something I talked to the career services office about at my university. In my field, many of the people my age are technophobes, and with the advent of electronic medical records, this is not good. And as we know, a lot of older people aren't exactly fit looking (although this certainly applies to most age groups in the US). The career services director told me to include my volunteer bike leadership role on my resume, as it gives a cetain impression of who I am. She was right.
I am older than you, Shooting Star, and I think this is important. I would not want even casual work colleagues to have a negative impression of me.

[emily_in_nc]

I think I get what shootingstar is saying.

I find the word "brand" when applied to human beings just sounds too impersonal and reductionist. Don't really know how to express this other than to say that to me, products have brands; living creatures are much richer and multi-layered than the word "brand" conveys. For some reason thinking of a person as a brand is as off-putting to me as treating corporations as people is.

Just my opinion...

[OakLeaf]

It's certainly a word with a very uncomfortable history, not to mention that its actual meaning is the precise opposite of the corporate-speak usage Shootingstar is referring to (a mark of being someone else's property, not of individuality). But I think it's important to clarify that it's the word you're uncomfortable with, not the idea, else you risk being accused of getting caught up in "semantics."

[Crankin]

I understand not liking the word brand as a verb (as in branding), and not a noun. But, it's not something that particularly bothers me, as language changes over time. I see this usage of the word as meaning style, voice, what you want to project. And, while we may protest over such corporate speak, I feel like a person would be lying to his/herself if s/he thought this was not important in the world of finding a job. It certainly doesn't annoy me, and it's just part of promoting one's self. Even in my field, it is useful; I say this as I am starting a job search.
I kind of think that in my case, I've always had to search for an employer that was compatible with my brand, or the way I project myself and my values/style. I had a major problem with this when I moved back to MA, in 1990. I ended up getting a job in a school system that, let's just say, was not a good match with my brand. Both my colleagues and the students. In fact, I took a part time job, very far from my house after this, because it ended up being such a horrible experience. I was so desperate for a job and I kind of forgot about the deep divisions of values between towns in my state, which I should have thought about. I was a poor match for that community in every sense of the word.

[shootingstar]

Don't really know how to express this other than to say that to me, products have brands; living creatures are much richer and multi-layered than the word "brand" conveys. For some reason thinking of a person as a brand is as off-putting to me as treating corporations as people is.

+1 Precisely the point. Yes, I agree everyone else here, that "brand" is just semantics, another word, for a person's personae or voice.
Crankin, I care up to a certain point, how people perceive me at work. And yes, the older one gets the more challenging it is, that one is not perceived negatively:

a) as being a technophobe (my career is on information management so I do need to keep current on some technology (meaning using some of it) and also the bigger issues -legal issues on electronic info., sextexting, malware, digital literacy divide between haves and have-notes). Does not using facebook, twitter put me in the negative, career zone? I'm not going to worry about...I blog, done other stuff reflected in my resume and am already out "there" for people.

b) not caring about my health --this is all a matter of perspective. And in a way, very unfair, for others who are in the same age bracket as I, but are struggling to lose weight/get healthier. BUT I am noticing quite a number of senior managers in their mid 30's and up, where I work, have consciously taken up some form of exercise --they look more fit / are fit... it's the "new" rising career star look I guess..at least for the organization that I work for. Well, cycling is part of it and one of the new "golfing" biz networking activities.

The one thing I've noticed in myself as I grow older and am still working, is trying to say less/be less negative. So thatI am not "branded" as sour grapes or cynical. I do wish I didn't know certain things, underlying common work politics that happens often in most organizations.

At this point in my life, I'm more comfortable with myself than I was compared to 15 years ago. Do I care about my blog "voice"? There is a reason why I don't rant much on my blog: I want to leave the very best of me digitally on blogosphere. And if the blog doesn't attract ton of blog traffic because I'm not controversial in my writing, "voice", I don't care.

I have worked for several very contrasting organizations, meaning very contrasting work cultures. What helped me a lot was knowing the work that I was doing was of value to the clients, even though I didn't always share some of the broad corporate culture/values or some people who were just difficult to deal with. On the surface, I probably appear more conformist but certainly I don't feel it. And cycling to work, everywhere, does add to that ...only because cycling still is only less than 3% of North America's regular transportation choice in most areas.