Protecting Your Brand

Adulting comes with all kinds of new trials and tribulations for teens. These tips help teens protect their brand as they enter the workforce.

These days, teenagers have heightened expectations placed upon them due to the prominence of social media. It is important to comprehend these new expectations if they are to succeed throughout their working lives. It can feel like walking on eggshells but if you put certain precautions into practice and are careful with whom you share your deepest moments you can preserve your livelihood.

Preserving your most important relationships becomes a daunting task the very second you graduate high school. One mistake, and everything that you’ve worked tirelessly for can slip through the cracks of your fingers quicker than your iPhone after you’ve tripped on the curb. Thankfully, there are several steps that you can take now to ensure that your brand is protected as you make your way through your early adulthood.

Your Digital Footprint

Social Media culture has infiltrated our society for better or worse. On one hand, it has made it possible for strangers to connect on deeper levels, on the other hand, individuals we do not know, and may not even interact with, have a front-row seat to our lives. For this reason, it is critical that you are responsible for the voice that you use on social media because even with substantial privacy precautions information can be screenshot and shared with others. Your friends, relatives, colleagues, and potential employers will all see what you post. Everything that you say online has the potential to come back to you, even years later. Insensitive comments made in passing ten years ago have made people lose jobs, friends, and significant others.

Your Brand Development

Over time, you’ll develop a solid idea of what your brand consists of. Elements of your personality, your speech patterns, and your expertise will all culminate into your overall “brand.” There are experts who specialize in brand development for young people, but you’ll do a lot of this work yourself. Your brand is how you present yourself online, and indicates the way you want to be received. Everything you post is curated into a story about who you are. So if your posts are professional or focused on family people will have a different perception of you than someone who constantly posts about partying. And Your branding becomes more important than ever when you are seeking employment. More than 70% of employers check social media to screen candidates, and 54% of them indicate that they declined to hire someone because of what they post online. So when you make a post you should always consider that others are watching and you should ask yourself if you would be ok if a potential employer saw this information.

So always spend time working to establish your brand. Better yet, make sure you have a social media presence on professional networking sites like Linked In so that employers can identify your professional presence separate from your personal life.

Your Network

You may have heard that a large part of success relies upon who you know. Your closest connections can open doors for you that you didn’t even know existed. For example, a teacher from high school may recommend you to your dream college or your friend’s dad may hire you for a job. Preserving these relationships is crucial; you should always conduct yourself with poise, respect, and confidence. Sometimes, your greatest allies will be found in unlikely places. So try not to make adversaries unnecessarily.

Your Presentation

Your presence online is the first glimpse of who you are, not only should you seek to have a polished resume and social media profile but you should also be sure that your email address is appropriate for professional connections. While “memelord69@email.com” may be okay for friends and family, it’s a safer bet to choose “firstname.lastname@email.com” for job applications or other professional conversations. Similarly, your resume does not need to be full of experience right off the bat. Instead, keep the relevant experience to the field you wish to enter forefront such as educational or volunteer experience. Your skills, professionalism, and personality are all valuable assets to your professional and personal connections.

Summary

Overall, protecting your brand will consist of both every day and larger-scale actions that eventually culminate into a successful career and personal life. Everybody has a brand, and these days, everybody is a brand. Circles are so closely intertwined that there’s a bit of a learning curve when it comes to establishing a solid, reputable brand. Don’t let that intimidate you! Instead, take inspiration from those you admire as you figure yourself out. You’ll figure out adulting eventually.

Check out our courses on Self Awareness to help you establish your brand.

Categories: Getting and Managing a Career, Self Awareness