These days people love to build personal branding through many platforms. Not only Linkedin as a professional “social media” for jobseeking, but also through Instagram, Tiktok, X, and many more. Although it may seem like they are narcissistic and performative, but building a strong personal branding sometimes can make you stand out in the eye of a recruiter.
But, if you see it in a different perspective… personal branding created a tight job competition. Why? because a CV alone is no longer enough to show recruiter that you’re competent.
In conclusion, personal branding is not narcissism, but a response to an increasingly tough job market.
Quoting Forbes, personal branding is an effort to shape, determine, and create other people’s perceptions of yourself. By creating a strong personal branding of yours, people will most likely remember you and greater opportunities for networking and significantly increasing your chances of getting hired will come
At the end of the day, personal branding is a low-risk move with high potential returns. Truthfully, it’s a nothing to lose strategy
However, this growing strategy in jobseeking also comes with unintended consequences. When visibility becomes a requirement, not an option, many jobseekers feel pressured to constantly perform and market themselves online. They tend to seek validation from it. This will slowly shifts their focus from building real competence in job competition to maintaining an attractive professional persona.
As a result, those who are highly skilled but less visible risk being overlooked, while opportunities increasingly favor those who are better at self-presentation rather than actual performance.
So how do you build your personal branding healthily?
Try to focus on your value, not virality. Showcase what you consider align with your values in the professional world and be consistent with it. Not just building an image of yourself but a character and mindset that you want people to perceive you.
Lastly, be authentic.
Personal branding is not an act of narcissism, but a response to an increasingly tough job market.
