Branding

Please reply with a personal response to discussion below. min 75 words each.

E.D. Discussion

My personal brand tips are from experience in the working world. I never realized they were brand tips. I thought more of experience and skills. But I found during research , what we are capable of, can make us someone of interest. I am assertive, I never give up. They call me the detective because I search until I find the answer. I am investigative. We once had a patient that was unsearchable. Never could be found. The balance owing on his account was substantial. He wrote a check, back in the 80's. I search him from the previous address and found where he lived and collected the funds due. I set up a payment plan for him and he completed it diligently. I like to help people and I am a communicator on all levels of professions. 

The strategies I have to build on my brand will be in my resume of introduction. I will have to explain my ambition and goals from my work experience and then combine it with what I have learned in this class. 

On my linkedin profile I have changed it to health care management. I use to have it as Transportation since that is what I have been doling for the past 7 years with my husband. All of my contacts there are from transportation. I will start new contacts for the health care world. I started a learning session on linkedin for excel use. I know how to use excel, but I want to enhance my skills. I don't know how to make a pivot table. I do know formulas, but need updates on short cuts. I will list that on my profile of skills after I complete this session. 

B.B. Discussion

Personal branding is honestly something that intimidates me a little. I am pretty outgoing and social, but I sometimes lack confidence in promoting myself because I have a pretty diverse work history and have been out of the work force for a little over a year. However, I have come to realize that it is not as daunting as it seems. 

The first tip that really helped me to gain confidence creating my personal brand was to define my goals. My goals are to further my education and gain experience for my future. I am reaching towards those goals by working hard in school and joining communities of like-minded professionals. Another personal branding tip that I found helpful was to focus on my skills and past experiences, especially if they are relevant to my intended career path. For instance, I have management and human resources experience, as well as experience caregiving in long-term care facilities and in client's homes. All of these skills and experiences are useful in becoming a nursing home administrator or human resources manager. 

As for my linkedin profile, I have a few changes to make. First, I don't have a profile picture and I should probably fix that. Second, I did not realize that headlines are searchable! That may seem obvious to some, but I really haven't used linkedin very much. I am going to change my headline to something that will be easier for potential employers to find and re-write my summary. I want to highlight my strengths and include the hard work that I am doing to prepare for rejoining the workforce. And lastly, I need to look over my work history and make sure that I include useful information and skills.