Dean College Blog

Josh Singer is the Online Marketing Coordinator at Dean College.  Josh went to Suffolk University and has a degree in Advertising & Public Relations.

It’s election season.  To some, this is exciting.  To most, this simply means a bombardment of political interruptions while watching TV.  (Side note: according to this Boston Globe article from September 23, $46 million has been spent on political television advertising in Massachusetts already.)  But this article is not about politics.  It’s about what students and job seekers can learn from the two Massachusetts candidates for US Senate.

Lets think about Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren for a moment from the perspective of the average voter.  The truth is, we know very little about these two candidates.   Take Scott Brown – we know he’s an “everday guy,” he drives a truck, and he’s a Republican.  Elizabeth Warren – she is a Harvard professor, may or may not be part Native American, and she’s a Democrat.  That’s all. That is their brand identity and the average person is going to make a decision based on very little information.

Now, do me a favor and think about yourself for a moment.  Think about your brand identity.  Realize that everything you do as a student and job seeker is your brand identity.  Your twitter account, your facebook page, your pinterest boards, your LinkedIn account and finally, your resume is you.  But also realize that in the real world, like Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown, hiring managers are only going to be looking at a very small amount of information before deciding on you.  So again, I ask you to think about yourself.  You’re in college, and yes you should have fun.  Make life long friends, go watch the Dean athletic games, take a train into Boston and spend the day, but at the end of the day, you’re at Dean College to build your brand and set yourself up for your professional future.

Spend ten minutes today thinking about what your online social media accounts say about you. Think about what you post on these sites (yes, according to this Mashable article, potential employers are looking).  Think about your resume, which no matter whether you’re a freshman or senior at Dean, I assume you already have a draft of. If you don’t, visit the career center and work with them immediately.  Or if you prefer, do what I did – check out the book Me 2.0 and read up on branding expert Dan Schawbel‘s blog, the Personal Branding Blog.

Bottom line is this: think about what I said earlier; that $46 million dollars has been spent on television advertising alone by the political campaigns.  That doesn’t include radio, billboard, direct mail, web sites, etc. – there is a TON of money invested in these campaigns.  And all we know is Scott Brown drives a truck.  Well, you are also investing a lot in your campaign for personal success, so make sure you are utilizing all of the resources offered to you at Dean from advising to the career center to our facebook page (cheap plug, I know).  Because in the end – you’ve only got a few chances at impressing a potential employer.

A few tips of what you should be doing right now:

• Get on LinkedIn, immediately.  Network with your professors, staff here at Dean, fellow students, etc. Don’t be shy, connect with anyone and everyone – you’ll be happy you did when you’re job searching.
• Think about what you post on twitter and how it represents your brand.
• Go to the advising and career centers at Dean often. Seriously, just do it.
• Like our facebook pages: Dean College Dean Student Life and follow us on twitter @DeanCollege (OK, seriously done with the social media plugs).
• Since this was a politically themed blog, make sure you vote. It’s your right as a US Citizen.
• Start putting together a portfolio for job interviews.  You can go to the interview and tell the hiring managers you can do things, or you can actually show them what you’ve done.
• Do as many internships as you can fit into your college career.