It's a Brand-You World

I found an article in Time about personal branding services. This is where someone interviews you and then tells you how to make yourself look & sound better on a resume or online personal ad.

What struck me was that I already do this for free! At the space conferences and events Jen and I regularly attend, I always gravitate toward the students. They are a great source of inspiration as well as an indicator of how well the space industry is connecting with youth today. They are also a fun challenge :-)

Typically when I meet someone at a conference, I immediately start to pick past all the standard answers to get to the good, meaty stuff. Students are ripe for this process. It usually only takes a few minutes for them to get past what they are doing now and start discussing the type of things they want to do (ex: "I am working on a degree" to "I am interested in developing new propulsion systems for long-duration space missions"). My goal is always to understand what they want so I can connect them better with each other and industry insiders. But seeing them leave with a clearer understanding to their core desires and strengths is often more useful to them.

At the SEDS conference where I spoke last weekend, my main focus was on finding your "source": the thing that really drives you and says why you're doing all the other stuff. Be it a quest for knowledge, concern for human survival, or the joy of sharing discovery with others, your core values and ideals are very powerful tools. Too often I see students explaining that they are getting a degree without ever saying why.

Try it yourself: ask someone who they are and what they're up to in life. Usually I get a response like: "I work as a manager." Great, now I know your job title but I don't know you or what lights you up on the inside. What's so bad about saying "I'm working to serve the needs of the community by being a great parent, a volunteer, and managing a department at a local company."? For me, that makes a huge difference in the way I listen to the person for the rest of the conversation.

I think it is really neat to see someone else offering this service to the general public. Knowing that I have one more marketable talent in my bag of tricks is nice too. And if you ever hear me answer with a crap reply, please call me on it! Don't let me get by without branding myself :-)