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Impressions from the talk about Personal Branding

Personal Branding: How to become a brand

 

Marketing Manager Jacqueline Thoresson from karriere.at introduced our alumni to the art of personal branding. One thing became clear: If you want to make a good first impression, you have to pay attention to a few things.



The application for a job is our business card. It is the first thing that the HR department comes into contact with - and on the basis of this it assesses whether a second look is worthwhile. Jacqueline Thoresson from karriere.at told our alumni what companies pay special attention to - and what you can do to convince.h

Yes, he's still alive: the classic resume

In times of increasing digitalisation and online presence, one might think that CVs have become obsolete. Far from it: For most companies this document is still the measure of all things, which is why its creation should not be taken lightly.

And here are a few tips for this: The contact details should be visible at first glance. The same applies to a current photo - although you should avoid using a selfie. Laughter is allowed, however. Ideally, the CV should be two DIN A4 pages long and contain job-specific information. In doing so, one should keep the credo in mind: Work experience counts more than education. That is why it should be described as meaningful as possible without being too voluptuous. It should be noted that the CV must be structured, clear and complete. This means that it is legitimate and important to indicate periods of military service and maternity leave. The same applies to gaps, whereby attention should be paid to positive formulations (e.g. looking for work instead of being unemployed).

Unconventional applications are not good or bad per se: Whether you are successful with them depends on whether they fit in with your personality and are still clearly formulated. However, they are unsuitable as a substitute for a classic CV. Therefore, if you want to be creative, you should do so in your letter of motivation. In it, you can and should also discuss your own soft skills, as these are becoming increasingly important for companies. But here, too, the following applies: brevity is the spice of life. The cover letter should contain a maximum of three paragraphs and the letter of motivation should not exceed one A4 page.
 

Control digital presence: Google yourself!

Recruiters are increasingly reviewing the profiles that applicants have created in social networks. They also check the posts that appear in the Google search engine. Ignoring this fact can have a negative effect on the chances of success of an application: 11.7% of the searches lead directly to rejections according to karriere.at. Therefore, maintain your online reputation, avoid publishing unfavourable pictures and misuse your sound when posting and commenting.

Therefore you should start early to maintain your online presence and google yourself. That way you can find out what recruiters* see when they enter your name. And to save yourself the trouble of regular first-person surfing in the future, you can create a Google alert for your name. This way you can find out immediately who has published what about you - and you can react accordingly.
 

Impressing in conversation: How it works

At the beginning of job interviews there is often a somewhat tense atmosphere. Recruiters like to use icebreaker questions to ease it. They prefer to talk about the interests of the applicants*, which is why they should be briefly mentioned in the CV.

Once the conversation has started, it is time to present yourself from the best side. However, it is important to be careful not to exaggerate and claim something about yourself that is not true. If you play a role, experienced recruiters will quickly see through it - therefore it is advisable to remain authentic. Ideally, questions about strengths should be answered in such a way that they are described using concrete examples.

What you should be prepared for in the run-up to job interviews abroad are possible different cultural customs. If you are well informed, you will avoid unpleasant misunderstandings, show interest and respect - and thus attract positive attention. If you follow these tips, you have a good chance of standing out from the field of applicants.