Personal Branding Mistakes You’re Making (And How To Fix Them)

In 2015 you need more than a resume. You need more than a cover letter and good headshot, too. You need a little bit of everything. And the way we present our work identities has changed with the Internet: all of a sudden, we’re all brands.

Personal branding is serious business these days, and while it might still feel like an uphill battle waged by celebrities and their publicists (good job Justin Bieber, you’re back in our good graces), social media and our growing digital footprints have turned us all into searchable, discoverable entities of our own. At its core, personal branding is nothing more than a careful curation of how you present yourself to the world.

If someone visits your Facebook page and sees nothing but silly farm game posts, you’re being sloppy, but if you’re constantly tweeting in corporate buzz-speak you might be too clinical. As with many things, there’s a thin line between doing too much and too little, but, theoretically at least, personal branding is an easy middle-ground: just be yourself. It sounds simple, but there are certain branding traps and bad habits that anybody can fall into.

Read through our short-list of common personal branding mistakes below and what you can do to fix them.

Don’t be a drone. Obviously you want to maintain a certain level of professionalism on your social media accounts (i.e. it might time to ditch those fratty college pictures on your Facebook), but don’t become a work zombie. You don’t have to share your weekend party exploits, but try to round things out so you come off as a real person.

Stop lurking. It’s easy to get overwhelmed online and just sit things out while watching intently from the sidelines. If you’re personal brand says one thing about you it should be that you’re active. A stale, months-out-of-date personal website or social media account is suspicious and boring. You don’t have to have the highest Klout score in the room, but you can’t afford to be a perpetual lurker either.

Stop making it all about you. This might seem counter-intuitive, but your personal brand should open up and highlight your network, not isolate you with a constant and awkward spotlight. You should definitely share your own work and accomplishments, but don’t be afraid to offer some friendly public encouragement to a friend or coworker: it shows you’re not alone and have productive connections.

Avoid corporate buzz words. #Synergy. #DisruptiveInnovation. That stuff might sound good in a meeting, but it’ll make you look corny online. You can share interesting links and talk about work but try not to embarrass yourself in constantly trying to impress a boss.