What's Your "Headline"?

By Daniel Alexander, Campus Representative, Georgetown University

Can you come up with one sentence that captures who you are? Seriously, give it a try. It is not that easy, is it? Branding yourself with a headline, and even a personal logo and website, can really give you an advantage in your job search, especially in creative fields such as marketing. In my Promotional Strategy class, professor Charlie Jones, President of Brand Intersection Group, asked us to create a “headline” for ourselves. While we’d like to think we know ourselves well, it can be extremely difficult to pack everything that makes us unique into one simple, concrete statement. My first attempt at this resulted in a headline that could apply to thousands of my peers and therefore fails at being unique to me.

I think this exercise is very valuable for three reasons. For one, it really forces you to think about who you are, what your strengths and weaknesses are and what career is best fitting for you. Some people might have a great understanding of who they are, while others, like myself, will struggle with the task of narrowing many personal characteristics down to only a few essential ones. This task can require that you start from scratch and try to forget what you think you know about yourself. Once you have a good understanding, try thinking about how your headline can correlate with specific career goals. Secondly, a concrete understanding of who you are and what you can offer is essential for being an attractive candidate in the eyes of potential employers. A great personal headline and logo will surely make your resume memorable, and will definitely add flair to your business card (once you have one). Finally, taking a personal inventory of your strengths and weaknesses is the first step in improving yourself. You have to know yourself to grow yourself. Try getting people who know you well to provide honest feedback through online tools such as 360 Reach or Rypple.

If you feel up to it, try making a personal websites and logo. Websites are a great way to create visibility for your personal brand. Even a blog can be very effective. Personal logos can be made using a program like Illustrator. You can try the program for free for 30 days here. For inspiration, check out logopond and logoyes. Yes, learning how to make websites and logos can be time-consuming, but if you know how to make them, that is another skill that will differentiate you from your peers