9 steps to building a personal brand

Remaining silent in response to questions about personal branding.

That was the answer from humanities students to the question, "What is personal branding?". This question was posed by Ms. Le Thi Lan Anh, M.Sc. – Director of the IEDW Institute of Education, at the beginning of the talk show. This silence serves as a warning about the lack of initiative among humanities students in "enriching" themselves before graduation.

Ms. Lan Anh cited examples of personal brands such as Professor Tran Quoc Vuong and "the king of Vietnamese music," Dam Vinh Hung. Through engaging and easy-to-understand real-life examples, speaker Lan Anh helped students define the concept of personal branding. More importantly, she helped students recognize the importance of this "brand" for their future, especially for those about to graduate.

The speaker asserted, "A person's value is what distinguishes them from others." Through this, she urged students to quickly build their personal brand now to achieve their desired jobs in the future.

Ms. Lan Anh is currently the Director of the IEDW Institute of Education. She is also an alumnus of the Faculty of Literature at the university.

Interview game

Five students were invited onto the stage by Ms. Lan Anh to participate in a mock job interview. Dr. Nguyen Quang Lieu – Head of the Political and Student Affairs Department – ​​was also invited to participate as a recruiter. The students' task was to impress these two demanding recruiters from the very first moment. The students encountered numerous difficulties during this mock interview. The unexpected and extremely challenging questions from the two recruiters left the students quite flustered.

This game provided students with a more relatable and realistic experience of the challenges they will face in the future. It served as a reminder for them to quickly acquire the knowledge needed to build their own unique brand.

Through a short game, Ms. Lan Anh also revealed to the students some tips for job interviews, such as attire, posture, how to answer recruiter questions, and attitude during the recruitment process.

Two judges in the interview game.

Building a personal brand in 9 steps

Concluding his presentation, the speaker offered a nine-step formula to help students build their personal brand. This is: Self-positioning – Who you are; how you are perceived by others; your goals – your vision; brand building; creating your "ecosystem"; building relationships; connecting and sharing; listening and monitoring.

While not a set of branding laws, these nine steps can offer students a path to more opportunities in the future.

The students listened attentively to the speakers' presentations.

Also at this talk show, Dr. Tran Quang Lieu shared his experiences in building his personal brand. The talk show concluded with many lasting impressions on the students. Most importantly, the students will have to ask themselves questions about what constitutes a brand bearing their own name.