Branding Yourself

These days, everything is branded, so no big surprise that people are told to market themselves in job searches as Brand You! Because there isn't enough pressure just from having the job search, and there isn't enough pressure from knowing there's a ton of competition, and there isn't enough pressure from knowing that the economy sucks and the likelihood that you're going to be chosen for an interview isn't increasing with the distance from receipt of your diploma.

I don't have my name out there on too many webpages; it's still on a few job sites and on LinkedIn. I'm not on Facebook, though just today someone expressed surprise about that; apparently it isn't possible to like the internet without embracing Facebook. I'm on a couple of sites, including LinkedIn and I find it difficult to manage without having a plan.

In my area, there are actually people who run classes for use of social media, which is great for those who have money to pay for that sort of thing and have a need to fill. I'm thinking of anyone who has a small business and gets contacts through word-of-mouth. Especially for those who provide services. I even saw a CLE that addressed social media.

For my purposes, my name isn't online for too many reasons and I'm fine with that. If I had a less unique name, I would be more likely to be on more sites; since employers now routinely google people, it seems that discretion is the better part of valor and stupid pictures of ones youth are better off in boxes.