We all know having a strong personal brand is essential to landing an internship or entry-level job in today’s market. And while I’ve written about this issue several times before, do you feel you truly have a strong handle on how to build your personal brand? If not, I want to introduce you to WhyHire.me.
WhyHire.me is an educational program that includes instructor-led materials, online curriculum and integrated software that provides each participant with the means to develop a professional, online personal brand that their future employers will invariably find. All of this is available for $29 per year.
According to Andy Church, CEO and co-founder of WhyHire.me Corporation, WhyHire.me has many benefits to internship and entry-level job seekers:
1. Build a strong brand before you graduate. The program includes software and methods (e-book, self-paced learning, worksheets and teacher led instruction) to help students and future entry-level candidates develop a professional online brand while they are in school.
2. Social media integration. The software pulls several social media feeds into a unified experience for an employer prospect. When a personal URL (PURL) is sent out or discovered by an employer, they get a one-stop view of the candidate, including About Me, My Blog, My Flickr Photos, My Twitter, My Videos and My RSS (social bookmarks). Employers are busy and appreciate getting a unified and cohesive cross-section of material. This is a great opportunity to shape how a future employer will perceive you as a candidate.
3. Great search rankings. WhyHire.me delivers tremendous Google search results, since we teach the students some basic elements of search engine marketing. We have them pull all of their online real estate into their WhyHire.me profile.
4. Privacy controls. The user has complete control of who can see their profile and when. It is both a learning and collaborative environment that the student can turn into a powerful job search tool when they are ready. As a student builds confidence and learns how to blog, comment, remark or Tweet, they can expand their base of contacts who can look at their profile or simply share it across the Internet.
5. Demonstrate your background in a savvy online format. The program brings recommendations on how to properly blog, Tweet and bookmark. The end game is all about demonstrating passion, initiative and leadership through effective story telling about your experiences at school and through engagement with industry issues and like-minded people.
What’s in store for the future? “We are busy working on more granular features that will let us offer WhyHire.me to all post-secondary students who are not affiliated with current schools we are working with,” said Church. “Working professionals who are looking to transform their brand presence will also be able to directly subscribe to WhyHire.me later in 2009. People looking for the paring knife of job search will be able to dive into the curriculum, create and foster their brand and be found.”
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