The
first step in establishing my brand was to identify what my strengths and
weaknesses are. This was something I
hadn’t really considered formally doing before, until now. I had to sit down and take a look at who I
am as a person. I realized I have some
distinctive characteristics that will be very appealing to companies and people in the
future.
The biggest
strength I identified for myself was critical thinking. Problem solving has always been something I
am very good at and something that I really enjoy. I believe I have a unique way of going about
solving problems and this is something that allows me to come up with solutions
that others might not see. In my mind,
my studies have really helped with this, as I have learned throughout college
the process of precisely identifying what the problem is, and then once I know
the issue, to actually solve the problem.
My second biggest strength is organization and
prioritization. I mean this more in the
sense of time and tasks than other forms of organization. I feel that when I have a lot on my plate, I
am very good at organizing everything that I need to do in the most basic
tasks, and then prioritizing and managing my time so that it all gets done in
the highest quality possible. I am a person who likes to take advantage of all of my time, and try and do the most in one day as I possibly can.
Finally, one of the strengths I identified in myself was
always keeping an even demeanor. I think
this is something that will help me in my career because I will be able to make
rational choices that are thought out carefully, using logic, instead of possibly making
poor choices based on emotional responses.
I think this ability to always stay calm and think clearly will really
help me in the future with my career, as well as personal relationships. I also think I tend to take a very
objective point of view on things. I’m
usually good about not letting any biases affect my decision making and making
smart choices.
I am the first to admit that I have some weaknesses. The biggest weakness I am aware of is my
tendency to want to rely on myself to do something instead of asking for
help. I have a propensity to believe
that I can fix something myself, and I’ll ignore help and advice from others
who clearly know more than I do. This is
something I try to work on and try to hide, but it still shows. After some thought though, I realized it only
comes out in unique situations. It
happens when I’m with my peers and family, but in the workplace I tend to heed
the advice of my superiors, which is probably a good thing.
My second weakness, and it is something I’m working on,
is shyness. I’m not a naturally outgoing
person. I tend to keep a small group of
close friends, and I don’t go outside my comfort zone very much. It’s something that I know can hurt me in
interviews, especially because I don’t like to talk about myself all that much,
and tend to downplay my accomplishments.
My third weakness that I’ve found is impatience. I don’t like to wait on people, and I find it
disrespectful when someone is late. It
feels disrespectful, like their time is more important than mine. I think this probably stems from my strength
of organization. I like to organize my
time as well as I can so that I can get as much done in my day as possible;
when people are late, that messes up my plan and frustrates me.
After completing my self-evaluations, I reached out to
some of my friends, family, and coworkers to get their input. Some of the responses I got were what I
expected; others surprised me. For
instance, my coworkers described me as being confident; unafraid to reach out
to someone I didn’t know to seek answers and insights. This surprised me. I had never thought of myself as outwardly
confident, but it was something I was glad to hear. I’ve always been self-confident, but it
wasn’t something that I thought came across to others. There was one weakness that my peers
identified that surprised me. I was
described as being too sarcastic. Now, I
know that I have a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor, but it was never
something that I thought of as being a weakness. Those that described this as a weakness said
that I tend to make sarcastic jokes too often, and that I should be more
serious when the situation requires it.
After hearing this, I realized that this is something I need to work on.
The other responses I received were things that I
expected. I was described as smart, a
good problem solver, and someone who is very dedicated. Weakness wise, I was described as being shy
towards new people. My friends said that
I can be shy when I’m initially introduced to someone new, but that after I get
to know them I’m a fairly outgoing person.
I was also described as being somewhat of a know it all, which I know I
can come off as sometimes. I know that I
need to work on keeping my mouth shut, instead of correcting people.
The final step in establishing my brand was identifying
my feature identity. If I had to
advertise myself to people, it would be as a fixer (no not like the “fixer” in
Pulp Fiction). I think of myself as someone
who can take a problem and find a feasible solution that improves the current
situation. I will use data and logic to
come up with the best solution possible.
I may come off as impatient, and as a loner, but once you get to know
me, I hope you’ll find that I try my best to be a good person.
