Preparing for industry events

Developing your personal brand is essential to successfully market yourself, your skills and experiences. A well-developed personal brand allows you to connect with potential employers and establish connections within your future industry.

Articulating your strengths and establishing a personal brand can be difficult if you don’t know where to start. Here's how you can develop your own personal brand:

1. Engage in self-awareness: Consider your strengths and weaknesses, achievements, and interests. Key questions to ask include: What are you most passionate about? What are your top three attributes? What are your three greatest strengths/skills that have benefited your work/study? How do others describe you? What is your point of difference?
2. Consider your audience: Knowing your audience is essential to successfully communicating your message. Become an expert in industry knowledge through conducting research on your future industry, organisations, and professionals you are aiming to connect with.
3. Be consistent in your message: Represent yourself in a realistic way by being clear about who you are and who you are not, making sure to express your brand consistently across all communication mediums. Remember: Clarity, Consistency, Constancy.
4. Be strategic about identifying how you wish to be perceived. It is important to promote your personal brand, skills and experience authentically without coming across as lacking in self-awareness.
5. Assist others: As well as promoting your personal attributes and professional achievements, your personal brand should also consider how you can help the employer. Consider the following questions:

• How did I get here? (What do you know?)
• Why can you trust me?
• What do we have in common?

For more information check out the following resources:

Once you have articulated your personal brand, it’s time to promote it.

You can do this online through social media platforms such as LinkedIn. To effectively utilise your LinkedIn profile for networking, make sure to promote your profile URL on other social channels, personalise your connection requests, and engage with your existing connections.

Researching the organisations you will communicate with, whether online or through an industry event, is essential in effectively promoting your personal brand. Follow these three steps when preparing to attend an industry event or before sending out a connection request.

1. Have questions prepared for the organisations you plan on approaching. Avoid asking questions that can be answered from their website. Potential question topics include upcoming opportunities, valued skills within their industry, potential career paths or company projects.
2. Research the organisations you plan to approach and learn about their current projects and future career opportunities. Knowledge about an organisation will enhance your ability to ask questions and network.
3. Be prepared to start showcasing your personal brand. You can do this by sharing introductory information about yourself, such as your:

• Intentions and future goals
• Year of study
• Your major/areas of interest
• What type of position you are interested in
• Qualifications and experience

Networking is invaluable in building your professional reputation and connecting you with industry professionals and potential employers. To effectively network, make sure to follow these key steps:

1. Be willing to listen: Networking is about sharing, not taking. Be authentic and have a genuine interest in what other people are involved in. The aim of networking is to give and receive knowledge and make connections, not necessarily employment.
2. Take initiative in starting conversation and introducing yourself with enthusiasm. After your conversation, it’s always a good idea to take notes while the interaction is still fresh in your mind.
3. Dress the part: Make sure to dress professionally to give a positive first impression.

It’s important to follow up with potential employers to avoid losing momentum and to keep yourself at the front of their minds for future opportunities.

• Send them an email thanking them for their time, including some follow-up questions about any opportunities you discussed.
• Give them a call to ask more about their organisation and how you could be a good fit. Make sure to prepare some talking points in advance.
• Connect with them on LinkedIn to get a sense of the organisation’s culture.

Remember to do your research and tailor your approach to each employer – don’t copy and paste the same email to every organisation! To avoid this, refer to something you spoke to them about at the event, ask questions about their organisation or enquire about the roles they are offering.

Access our email introduction guide for tips on how to write your follow-up email.

It’s a good idea to have an application prepared for when opportunities arise from an industry event. The Careers Service has a variety of services and resources designed to help you with each step of the application process:

• Visit CareerHub and Career Essentials to access resources on resumes, cover letters and selection criteria - all designed to help ensure you have covered every step to land that job.
• Receive feedback on your job application by uploading your application documents through the Ask a Question button in CareerHub and a Careers staff member will provide you with feedback within one business day.
• Drop in to see us at Callaghan, Newcastle City, or Ourimbah to get one-on-one help with your application. Or book an online Zoom appointment. Visit CareerHub for days, times, and locations.

LinkedIn is an invaluable resource in marketing yourself to, and networking with, potential employers. Your LinkedIn profile could be a potential employer’s first impression of you, so it’s important that your profile accurately reflects your skills and experience. The Careers Service offers a range of services and resources to help you strengthen your LinkedIn profile:

• Access resources in CareerHub and Career Essentials which can help you to craft and enhance your LinkedIn profile.
• Book in for a LinkedIn Profile Review with a Careers Service staff member to receive help creating your profile or feedback on how to improve it. To book an appointment, call (02) 4921 5588, or request an appointment through the Ask A Question button in CareerHub.