KADDI Keith & Associates Distance Dietetics Internship

Meeting 4 of Winter 2020

Week 8: 2/24/2021

Estimated attendance: 10 total

Guest Speaker: Tzu-Chin Claire Wu from Career Development Center

Focus: Personal Branding

https://career.oregonstate.edu/

[email protected]


 

Claire believes that a career is a portion of your life but also dreams big. Claire meets with students one one one over Handshake. There are three parts.

 

The Power of Brand is her first step. Claire asks the group what “personal branding” means.  Responses include how you present yourself and what people know you for, or a consistent aesthetic, marketing yourself. She asks if it is a positive or negative term. Many participants described it as a positive term. Claire wants to clarify that it has a negative connotation with certain groups of people because humans are not products and it is wrong to brand and objectify humans. She has also heard that branding perpetuates an idea that existence and value do not need to be “sold.” She describes that branding is actually how people see you and hear these feelings but wants people to reframe this idea as to how people can put their best foot forward. 

 

“Personal Brand is what people say about you when you leave the room” -- Jeff Bezos 

 

Claire has worked at the career development center. She is also a puppy foster mom. Work is only a small portion of her life and everyone in her work does not need to know her personal life. In the US, personal and professional life is not separated, and people do what they love and they work a lot. However, it is not wrong to keep personal life private. You do not need to be guarded and on all the time. People's perceptions are often inaccurate. When we are trying to polish our brand, we want to make our brand accurate. Some pieces are only needed for an interview. You may want to remove pieces that they do not need to see. Each individual gets to decide their brand and present what you want them to see. When you are presenting yourself, you want to have some focus and to present a few things that are important. 

 

The next step is to determine what is important to you. You want to identify your image, your mission, your values, and your vision. “Values” are the things that you do not want to compromise. What are your core values and your goals? When Claire is working with her peers, she shares her vision; her number one goal that she will not compromise on. When you go to “declutter” remember to personalize these four items: image, mission values, and vision. 

 

Claire asks the group to practice answering the questions about “Tell me about yourself?” This is one of the hardest questions to answer. Claire says we should not be surprised. It will be asked frequently in any professional setting. Claire shares how we can prepare ourselves for this question. There are three portions to share to answer the questions. The first part we should address is our overall career goal or interest. One of the most important parts is why you are interested in this field, topic, or population. Students should give strong reasons and details to answer this portion. The third part is “How you’ve prepared yourself” for your goals; whether it is work or volunteer experience. In 15-20 minutes, you may want 5 bullet points from each of the categories. If you are having dinner with alumni, you will want more bullet points. The fourth portion is the “pocket stories that demonstrate your soft skills” such as critical thinking, time management, teamwork, and other skills that demonstrate that you can get your job done.

 

Claire suggests starting with “why.” There is a TEDxTalk from Simon Sinek that describes how to answer these “why” questions. 

 

In the personal statement, the program will want to know why you chose that program, how you are qualified, your career goals and interests, and why, as well as why that program will support you in your goals.

 

Experiences will help you stand out. 

 

Your presence (brand) is important at which points? Personal branding does not need to be “on” all the time. It is not asking you to be who you are not, but to pay attention to how you present yourself. You should be focused on your presence during networking, applying to schools, internships, or jobs. Your brand should be clear. Interviews are another place to be present. Sometimes if you do not “declutter,” interviewers may become confused. It is okay to reiterate your points. 

 

OSU Career Development Center has resources for COS students on their website. She recommends students look at the pdf career guide to skim through the topics to decide where to start. There are events, workshops, and job postings on Handshake. There is also interview practice software. There is a resume review software called “Vmock.” The software will give the resume a score and Claire says you should not be too upset about the score. She has seen really great resumes with scores of 50-60 and the best score she has seen is in the 70s. She suggests looking at the Vmock recommendations and making appointments if there are further questions.