Communicating your personal brand

Communicating your personal brand

Careers day, SEB Gothenburg 2017. Photo: Simon Callaghan

By Caroline Wood

In today’s competitive job market, knowing how to communicate effectively has never been more important – whether it’s your research results or your personal qualities. During our pre-conference careers day at the 2017 SEB Annual Meeting in Gothenburg, early career delegates received a masterclass in getting themselves seen, heard and above all remembered, on the international science arena.

“Think about it: a spider doesn’t start building its web when it sees the fly, it’s already in place to catch it”: perceptive words from careers expert, Sarah Blackford, who led the morning session on the power of networking and personal branding. Early career scientists can adopt the same pro-active attitude towards their career planning by starting to build a network of contacts as early as possible. At a recent employer event during the ESOF 2016 meeting, it was estimated that these days around 90% of jobs are secured through networking and personal recommendation, with 70% of jobs not even advertised at all. But it takes more than collecting connections to break in: when recruiters have hundreds of contacts, you have to give people a “lasting, memorable impression” to stand out. “You need a solid, personal identity – a ‘brand’ – to get on people’s radar”, advised Sarah. This goes far beyond having a business card (although these are starting to become more commonly used amongst the academic community). Sarah encouraged us to emulate successful companies that build an identity through the unique strengths of their product/service. Ask yourself some key questions: Who do you admire and why? What do you want to be known for? What are your key strengths? Having identified your potential niche, it’s time to create a brand for yourself that will maximise your impact. Don’t fall into the trap of putting down everything you can think of, cautioned Sarah: “You need to focus otherwise it will be a bit of a ‘mishmash’”. Remember, industries often use search engines when hiring so think carefully about the key messages you are getting across and check that your job title means something to people outside your organisation: For example, think ‘Scientist’ rather than ‘Postdoc’. Little details count, so make sure your profile looks complete including a good head-shot photo: “A half-finished profile doesn’t give a good impression of you” said Sarah.

Once you have begun to establish your brand, where should you start marketing yourself? Online is a good starting point, Sarah recommended, both researcher-specific networks (e.g. Research Gate) and mainstream social media, particularly LinkedIn. But your brand should be integral to your personality, not something you switch on or off, so consider how to present yourself at events such as meetings with industrial partners, conferences and seminars – even informal meetings. Numerous studies have demonstrated that body language and how we speak are much more important  that the words we use. Everything from the colour scheme of your Twitter page to the way you dress communicates a subliminal message. Are you a fun, friendly person, easy to get on with? But can people also take you seriously?

Ultimately, making a memorable brand for yourself should be a continual work in progress, to be tweaked continually to match the organisations you want to attract. But the potential benefits for your career make it a worthy investment of your time!

The rules of the game

During the afternoon, Miguel Garcia-Yeste from the Department of Languages and Literature at the University of Gothenburg showed how effective communication relies on having a keen awareness of the rules for different genres: modes of communication specific for a certain purpose and audience, often developed by distinct scientific communities. These genres “bring pressure to conform to certain norms, but this can create friction between what the audience expect and being yourself” said Miguel. The real trick is to manipulate or bend the rules slightly to create a memorable message for the audience. As an example, he showed us an ingenious marriage proposal cleverly disguised as a scientific paper! He then gave us his tips for getting the most impact out of the ‘3 Ps’ of research: papers, posters and presentations.

Getting the most from your poster
When your poster is one among hundreds of others, it takes real effort to stand out from the crowd. According to Miguel, “every aspect should be designed to attract and inform, with a structure that helps the audience to find and use information”, preferably in a few seconds! Everything should be formatted for focus, using boxes, arrows or even a timeline if it helps. Rather than cramming in every last bit of data, you should choose your information strategically. “For instance, graphs shouldn’t just repeat the data but emphasise what supports your argument. Remember, if the audience wants more information they can always ask you during the poster session”. Any extra data can always be put on printouts to give to those who are interested, he added.

Speaking out
Even if you are showing the same data, oral presentations should be treated very differently to a paper, said Miguel. “Don’t just throw lots of information out there – your aim should be to encourage conversations with your peers and attract new followers” he said. He recommended using more conversational phrases, (“as you can see”, “and so on”, etc.) to interact with the audience and transition signals (first, next, therefore, etc.) to structure the delivery. For international students speaking in a non-native language, he recommends forvo.com: an online pronunciation database with user generated sound clips. With these tips in mind, there should be no excuses for not making the most out of communicating the best about yourself, whether it is your latest research findings or future ambitions.

Quotes from participants:

“Being encouraged to talk to each other really loosened boundaries. I found it surprising that what you say is less important than how you say it.”
 - Kati Michalek, Scottish Association of Marine Science, UK

“Extremely useful to have a point of view from a linguist on how to communicate – I picked up a lot of tips on how to make a poster for next time.”
 - Luca Telesca, University of Cambridge, UK

“Great way to start the conference because I met so many people and it showed how easy and fun networking can be.”
 - Uriel Urquiza García, University of Edinburgh, UK

“As a result of this session, I will be improving my online profiles to get the attention of possible partners and corporations.”
 - Rena Schott, State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Germany