Branding for fresh graduates is somehow an odd concept when looking for their first job. But this is actually one of the most important techniques that any fresh graduates should learn especially if they are trying to gain employment.

Without branding, they would just be another fresh graduate looking for an entry level job. But with branding, you will stand out among competition and gain an edge to be hired as soon as possible.

The part about branding is that you can create a brand for yourself even without experience or additional education. You just have to know where and how you can create a brand for yourself.

But do take note that there are two forms of brands – the good brand and the bad brand. Naturally, you don’t want to be tied up with bad branding so you have to be careful in your actions.

Offline Branding

If you are looking to become a well known person in your local community, you can opt for this type of branding. This form of branding will give people the idea of your personality and what are the things that are important to you.

A good example for offline branding is when you volunteer or become part of a non-profit organization. If you become one of the leaders, you can become recognizable and would be identified with the cause. If the job available is within the scope of your offline branding, you can be easily identified and will be hired as soon as possible.

Other activities such as reacting to the editor in a newspaper or writing something voluntarily in different magazines could also earn you some branding. If you think you have the capabilities, you can even establish an organization.

Online Branding

Another form of branding which could be done without anyone’s assistance is through online branding. You have to remember that companies are not just looking at your resume for data. They now practice searching the candidate’s name in Google. If you’re name shows up, they will try to dig out that information and see if that information is the same with your resume.

If you want to improve your personal branding online, try to search your name online. You can also actively promote yourself online by writing a blog or commenting on relative blogs so that you can gain popularity online. You can do this once a day which could have a significant effect in your status online after a month or two.

Sometimes online branding is very important that companies who can’t find your name online will discard you since you are not making any efforts to be known online or even have an interest to use the internet to your advantage.

There are companies that you can ask for help in terms of personal branding. However, they might cost too much especially if you’re just looking for a job. Try to work slowly on your online presence while looking for opportunities to be noticed in the community. This way, you’ll be able to brand yourself as someone useful and be hired.