Personal Branding: How to Navigate Social Media

Abstract

The Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal serves as a catalyst to uncovering innovative ways for Greater Philadelphia nonprofit as well as for-profit leaders to work together towards common goals. The following interview explores the concept of “personal branding” and how professionals might navigate social media to support their entities’ goals as well as their own career aspirations. To secure some of the latest insights, I interviewed Howard Levine, Principal with Heidrick & Struggles and previously a Vice President of Human Resources at Merck & Co., Inc., and Steve Ennen, President at Social Strategy1 and previously Founding Managing Director of the Wharton Interactive Media Initiative and Wharton Lab for Innovation in Publishing.

With “more jobs… lost in the recession of 2007-09 than in the previous four recessions combined” (Zuckerman 2011), astute professionals are building their own personal brands for sustainable career longevity. Importantly, they are prioritizing their limited hours toward a combination of social media and face-to-face interactions that support their employers’ goals as well as their own career aspirations.