When I say values, I’m not talking about “honesty”, “integrity” or any of that standard stuff. I’m talking about what is the key reason or the key thing that drives and motivates you.

Part of the attraction toward a job or career is the satisfaction that comes from it.  Research has indicated that the most satisfaction we get from a job is associated with the degree to which our personal values match those of the other employees that you work with.  Both people and organizations have values and they need to be shared values.

Are your values real, meaningful, and sustainable? How do you think about your values?
When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.

We start the process of self-discovery by looking into several key issues including; personal values, personality, strengths, achievements, passions, the opinions of others and finally, we take a brief look at weaknesses. To many this seems to be a little far from the original expectations of developing an online presence but you have to start at the heart of the matter.

People don’t give enough thought to what they are all about, what they can offer the world, and what they want to offer the world. We’re all so busy, overworked and overwhelmed to give ourselves the time we deserve. It’s easier to think about stuff, to-do lists, tasks, technology, friends, ….. We all need to take the time to think about what’s important to us, what we have to give to others and how we want to continue to develop and grow.

Do you know what your values, passions and strengths are? I hope my PR students now have a better handle on these big issues and now know what their keywords and phrases are, we will see next class.

I missed class last week, so we had to move things into a higher gear for the students this week. The clock is ticking and they need to be ready for the job market in a few months.

Our focus this week was on making sure that they had done all their required research to clearly position their personal brand. Their personal research has revolved around defining their values, understanding their personality and looking at their strengths from a few different perspectives including on-line tools, their achievements and what their classmates have seen in them.

They have also been asked to think about their target. What audience are they looking at? Where do they want to work? What industry? What position? They don’t have all the answers, who does, but they need to have a target to start with. This is another part of their commitment to define their personal brand.

I threw a few big questions at them also including;
- What do you have to do to get to where you want to go?
- What do you want to get out of the next step in your career?

We’re still working on strategy. They are also setting up a bunch of social media accounts.

I will see the class again on Feb 24th, they have a trade show to organize and a break to take over the next two weeks.

They will be returning to class with their ‘Positioning’ Pitches in the WhyHire.me portal plus a professional photograph which represents their personal brand image.

We’re finally starting to move forward.