[K-Women Talk] Now Is the Time to Start Personal Branding

Interest in Personal Branding Surges
Among Entry-Level Employees and Office Workers,
Not Just Entertainers or Artists
Adding Your Own Perspective on LinkedIn
Stands Out More Than Simple Retweets

Munsun Kyung, Executive Director at Unico Search

After working at a well-known foreign company and significantly contributing to the success of several startups, I was curious if the current CEO of another startup felt anything was lacking. Unexpectedly, during a meal together, I heard about their desire to build their own ‘personal branding.’ When meeting executives who want to retire or change jobs, I often hear regrets about personal branding, but I also heard concerns about personal branding from someone who is successfully building their career. It became clear once again that succeeding in an organization does not automatically create a personal brand. Recently, interest in personal branding has been rapidly increasing not only among entertainers or artists but also among office workers and even those just starting their careers.

Organizational culture is also becoming more favorable toward personal branding. In the past, the advice from workplace superiors was to not stand out and that “a protruding nail gets hammered down,” but nowadays, even HR managers emphasize speak up and self-promotion in communication.

The core of building personal branding is defining an identity that represents one’s value and consistently maintaining a network for promotion and feedback. In addition to regularly creating your own content using platforms and communicating with followers, it is also worth considering efforts to connect with experts. In a reality where online communication has become routine, it is good to proactively contact industry experts, send connection requests, and introduce yourself.

It is natural that personal branding based on a successful career, such as turnaround experts, finance professionals skilled with numbers, branding marketers, and global logistics experts, stands out, but generally, acquiring such personal branding is not easy. So, is there a way to build personal branding more easily?

As a headhunter, I have been using LinkedIn since before 2010, and recently I have noticed new changes on LinkedIn. While it was once used mainly as a profile-centered talent database, at some point, I started paying attention to posts where candidates share updates and their thoughts on topics of interest. Among those who consistently post, I become interested and often check their profiles in return.

For example, I once saw a job seeker who succeeded in getting hired with a resume prepared by comparing part-time experiences at several large corporate logistics centers. If you have an area of interest and regularly turn related experiences into content, building personal branding is not impossible even if you are not a particularly successful person within an organization.

As a frequent LinkedIn user, here is a tip: adding your perspective is more impressive than simply retweeting. Also, uploading a large volume of posts on various topics can be meaningless. Having many exposures is not necessarily good; consistent opinions, original writings, and experiences aligned with your identity can be more effective.

Although it is easy to say, personal branding is not easy to practice for busy office workers with little free time. I recall the words of Kim Hyena, a psychoanalyst and author of the 300,000-copy bestseller Psychology for Adults Who Think Too Much: “If you do nothing, you will definitely regret it a year later.” Let’s start with something simple now. Now is the time to start personal branding.

Moon Seon-kyung, Executive Director at Unico Search