April 16, 2013 at 9:21 am
I've personally had some activity way back when on SSC, but moved over to Experts Exchange for the most part. It has a broader view and the certification in multiple topic areas shows a prospective employer that you aren't "locked" into one thing.
Trying to be a guru on multiple sites just got to be too much. But my user id is usually the same across all of the different sites. So that is my form of branding. 😎
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Jim P.
A little bit of this and a little byte of that can cause bloatware.
April 16, 2013 at 9:31 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (4/16/2013)
DavidL (4/16/2013)
Am I the only one who finds this idea of 'me as a brand' demeaning and de-humanizing? It seems to me to represent all the worst aspects of crass commercialism, where even people are 'commodit-ized'. In this case we are doing to ourselves! I'm not opposed to working, to working hard, taking pride in fine craftmanship, and when necessary selling my services to a new buyer. But I really do resist treating myself like a new salsa trying get space on a supermarket shelf.I think you're confused about what branding means. It's about making statements about who you are, which aren't necessarily a point in time effort with a resume or an interview. Branding displays what your skills are, how you think, how you solve problems and what you've accomplished. It's not so much about advertising as a push mechanism, but making information available when it's needed. I don't necessarily expect most people's blogs/LinkedIn/etc is viewed except when someone is looking to give you a job, or maybe trying to decide if you get a raise/bonus.
I'm not sure why you think this is de-humanizing. I would say that it's the opposite. It provides a richness that shows individual people are different, with different skills and fits with different jobs. I think the lack of showing who you are ends up de-humanizing and commoditizing each person.
I understand from your description above that for you, branding is an approach a person might take to finding their next job. It sounds like a series of smaller, incremental efforts that in aggregate may result in an easier time finding new employment. Is that accurate?
I also suppose that the label branding has been borrowed from marketing, as the 'personal brand' idea as proposed closely resembles how Purina might work to keep one of their dog foods in the consumers' mind, to use just one example.
Thinking of me as a consumer product is what I find distasteful.
This does not mean I think it is not valuable to be active professionally, etc. etc. It also does not mean I am opposed to showing who I am, or that I do not appreciate the richness and variety of people.
I think the tendency (in this country, particularly) to see life through the lens of commerce is growing, and is very limiting. That is what I find de-humanizing.
April 16, 2013 at 9:39 am
DavidL (4/16/2013)
...
Thinking of me as a consumer product is what I find distasteful.
This does not mean I think it is not valuable to be active professionally, etc. etc. It also does not mean I am opposed to showing who I am, or that I do not appreciate the richness and variety of people.
I think the tendency (in this country, particularly) to see life through the lens of commerce is growing, and is very limiting. That is what I find de-humanizing.
I can see that. However I'd say this is an awakening. You took the blue pill.
We should have always viewed ourselves as a self-employed set of skills we lease to employers. The idea of lifelong employment, while this used to be fairly accurate for many in the past, wasn't really true. Employers can easily let you go at any time, for many reasons. Having a "brand" that you can then market for the next "contract" is valuable.
Personally I find my branding efforts enlightening. I learn about myself based on what I do. It's data, and I can look at what I write about, how my tag cloud changes, and which things I'm most excited by. They weren't the thinks I would have guessed when I started.
April 16, 2013 at 9:48 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (4/16/2013)
DavidL (4/16/2013)
...
Thinking of me as a consumer product is what I find distasteful.
This does not mean I think it is not valuable to be active professionally, etc. etc. It also does not mean I am opposed to showing who I am, or that I do not appreciate the richness and variety of people.
I think the tendency (in this country, particularly) to see life through the lens of commerce is growing, and is very limiting. That is what I find de-humanizing.
I can see that. However I'd say this is an awakening. You took the blue pill.
We should have always viewed ourselves as a self-employed set of skills we lease to employers. The idea of lifelong employment, while this used to be fairly accurate for many in the past, wasn't really true. Employers can easily let you go at any time, for many reasons. Having a "brand" that you can then market for the next "contract" is valuable.
Personally I find my branding efforts enlightening. I learn about myself based on what I do. It's data, and I can look at what I write about, how my tag cloud changes, and which things I'm most excited by. They weren't the thinks I would have guessed when I started.
I'm not sure what you mean by 'this is an awakening'.
I've had many different jobs, even careers, in the last 30 years, in 4 different countries. Each of those countries have VERY different approaches to work/life balance, and I would say the U.S. is on one end of the spectrum. I am not naive about my position as a worker, and I do keep an eye out for what is likely to help or hinder me if suddenly have to find a new job.
April 16, 2013 at 9:50 am
Would you rather have a person interviewing for your job, or a brand? 😀
April 16, 2013 at 9:52 am
I mean this is an awakening about the viewing of ourselves as part of commerce. We are part of this, and we are selling services. This is the same in many countries, though perhaps with more stringent rules against companies forcing you to move to a new position.
April 16, 2013 at 9:57 am
KGERBR (4/16/2013)
Would you rather have a person interviewing for your job, or a brand? 😀
I'm not sure what you mean?
How is this different than today? If you get a resume, that's a brand for a person. You make a decision to pursue them further or ignore them and move on.
We all have a brand. If you don't believe that, you're naive. I'm merely advocating a richer brand that gives an employer more of an idea about who you are as a person and employee.
April 16, 2013 at 9:59 am
I definitely believe in selling yourself, no doubt. But please keep in mind here folks that selling, or marketing yourself, can get you the chance to get in the door, but that's the easy part. After that, you've got to have the ability and know how to use it..Otherwise, people WILL find you out, regardless of the brand label you have put on the outside of your can..:-D
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
April 16, 2013 at 10:04 am
LinkedIn is about the only place I care to maintain a profile on as far as a professional profile goes. I'll never blog because there are already many (too many in a lot of cases) where people have already written up good articles so why do the work twice? I like coming here to read the daily news letter, getting an answer to a question and occasionally participating in in these discussions but it mostly stops there. Everyone can't be an "Internet Star" and I have no need to be one.
Soon I suppose that technical interviews will go out the window and be replaced by the count of Facebook friends or LinkedIn endorsements. Some people have tens of thousands of post on a given site but that should never be taken that any of them have value. There are a select few in the SS community that have good reputations because they give good advice, publish important articles and interact with the readers. They offer true value so I'd like to see the quality remain high and avoid encouraging posers from trying to be something they are not.
Cheers
April 16, 2013 at 10:27 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (4/16/2013)
KGERBR (4/16/2013)
Would you rather have a person interviewing for your job, or a brand? 😀I'm not sure what you mean?
How is this different than today? If you get a resume, that's a brand for a person. You make a decision to pursue them further or ignore them and move on.
We all have a brand. If you don't believe that, you're naive. I'm merely advocating a richer brand that gives an employer more of an idea about who you are as a person and employee.
Maybe this is generational.... I really don't know.
It seems to me you are insisting that viewing people and careers as brands is not only accurate (let's say your are right) but also important. If I am right in this, let me say that I take issue with the second point.
We've hired 5 people in the past year, and in no instance did I or anyone else make any effort to determine the person's 'brand'. In fact our company policy expressly prohibits us (management) from googling prospective employees. We reviewed resumes, did skype interviews, brought a short list in for day long interviews including technical tests, and tried really really hard to determine if they were a good fit. We are a manufacturing company that has a tendency to engineer our own solutions, both with regard to our main product and software.
I will assume that we are unusual and that if I ever am tossed back into the 'real world' I am in for a rude awakening. 'nuff said.
April 16, 2013 at 10:28 am
jfogel (4/16/2013)
Soon I suppose that technical interviews will go out the window and be replaced by the count of Facebook friends or LinkedIn endorsements.
True story, but people networking has always been advertised as a huge plus or edge. This is not something new.:-D
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
April 16, 2013 at 10:32 am
TravisDBA (4/16/2013)
jfogel (4/16/2013)
Soon I suppose that technical interviews will go out the window and be replaced by the count of Facebook friends or LinkedIn endorsements.True story, but people networking has always been advertised as a huge plus or edge. This is not something new.:-D
These linkedin endorsements are a complete joke. I regularly am notified that so-and-so has endorsed me for some ridiculous skill, when I have never in my life worked with that person in any capacity. I trust linkedin as far as I can spit.
April 16, 2013 at 10:35 am
DavidL (4/16/2013)
We've hired 5 people in the past year, and in no instance did I or anyone else make any effort to determine the person's 'brand'. In fact our company policy expressly prohibits us (management) from googling prospective employees. We reviewed resumes, did skype interviews, brought a short list in for day long interviews including technical tests, and tried really really hard to determine if they were a good fit. We are a manufacturing company that has a tendency to engineer our own solutions, both with regard to our main product and software.I will assume that we are unusual and that if I ever am tossed back into the 'real world' I am in for a rude awakening. 'nuff said.
I'd say this is unusual, but perhaps not. However I have dozens of friends that hire and they all "google people. They don't have time to Skype or call all of the 100 resumes they get for positions (It's often well beyond 50 per position). Resumes are often a poor indicator of quality by themselves. Just lacking in detail. Far too many people present well in a resume that don't do well in interviews.
BTW, the resume is the brand you are using. I'm just saying a richer brand makes sense.
April 16, 2013 at 10:35 am
I know the endorsements are largely junk and I know people network. Some just waste time on the Internet. True story.
Cheers
April 16, 2013 at 10:38 am
jfogel (4/16/2013)
LinkedIn is about the only place I care to maintain a profile on as far as a professional profile goes. I'll never blog because there are already many (too many in a lot of cases) where people have already written up good articles so why do the work twice? I like coming here to read the daily news letter, getting an answer to a question and occasionally participating in in these discussions but it mostly stops there. Everyone can't be an "Internet Star" and I have no need to be one.Soon I suppose that technical interviews will go out the window and be replaced by the count of Facebook friends or LinkedIn endorsements. Some people have tens of thousands of post on a given site but that should never be taken that any of them have value. There are a select few in the SS community that have good reputations because they give good advice, publish important articles and interact with the readers. They offer true value so I'd like to see the quality remain high and avoid encouraging posers from trying to be something they are not.
Well said, sifting through the noise can be tiresome. In my personal experience, personal referrals have landed me almost all of my jobs, so I suppose my 'localized' branding has been effective, but probably wouldn't help me much in a global job search so much.
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