This past Wednesday, I had the chance to join the Marketing Association for their kickoff meeting to talk about something that often gets overlooked: personal branding.

Marketing students spend a lot of time looking outward. You analyze brands, build campaigns, and tell stories for companies and products. But we do not always pause to think about the fact that we are brands, too. And the way you communicate who you are can have a real impact on your career over time.

To explore this, we flipped the script during the workshop. Instead of thinking like students or job seekers, Marketing Association members stepped into the role of hiring managers. They reviewed a job description and then evaluated three mock candidates using only their LinkedIn profiles. From there, students worked in small hiring committee groups to decide who they would move forward for an interview.

What stood out was how different the conversations were. Some groups agreed quickly. Others debated. People noticed different things, valued different experiences, and had different reactions to the same profiles. That is the reality of hiring. Career development is not a checklist or a formula. It is nuanced. It is subjective. It is an art, not a science.

That perspective shift is powerful. When you look at your own materials through a hiring manager’s lens, patterns start to emerge. Does this profile clearly connect to the role? Does it tell a story? Does it make it easy to understand what this person might bring to a team?

The goal of the activity was simple. The more intentionally you tailor your personal brand to the roles you are interested in, the stronger your materials become. Your LinkedIn profile, resume, and even the way you talk about yourself should reinforce the same themes.

We ended the session with students editing their own LinkedIn profiles. They worked on headlines that said more than just “Marketing student.” They drafted About sections that reflected their interests, skills, and motivations. Most importantly, they started thinking about what they want to be known for.

That is where I want to leave you, too.

Your call to action

Take a few minutes to think about your professional brand. Ask yourself:

• What qualities do I want people to associate with me?
• What do I hope a recruiter or hiring manager says about me after reviewing my profile?

Maybe it is curiosity. Someone who asks thoughtful questions and wants to keep learning. Maybe it is being strategic, disciplined, creative, or collaborative.

Once you identify those themes, look at your materials.

• Does your LinkedIn headline reflect them?
• Does your About section tell a story that supports them?
• Do your experiences signal those traits clearly?

Your brand does not need to be flashy. It just needs to be intentional. When you take ownership of how you show up professionally, you make it easier for others to see your value and imagine you in the roles you want next.

Abby Mankins is a career counselor in the Career Management Center and instructional coordinator in BUS515: Career Management. Learn more about the Career Management Center.