Marketing Expert urges students to brand themselves

By Iddi Yire, GNA Accra, March 25, GNA - Mrs Agnes Essah, the Marketing Director, Vodafone Ghana, has urged students, who would soon be prospective job seekers to brand themselves for the corporate world.

She said in the competitive corporate world, it was increasingly important for the job seeker to create a career brand so that prospective employers could easily understand who the persons were and what professional skills they had.

Mrs Essah gave this advice at the 2017 Annual Management and Professional Day Celebration of the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).

The event on the theme "Branding Yourself for the Corporate World" was attended by final year students of the University.

It was under the auspices of Vodafone Ghana, UT Bank, Guinness Ghana, Phase II Construction, Kasapreko, and DKD Holdings.

Mrs Essah said the branding process involved creating a unique name and image for a product and said a brand sits in the product; explaining that in personal branding, self- packaging was very critical.

"It is not all about certificates, there is something about performance, image and persona," Mrs Essah stated.

She said the job seeker must identify his or her unique strength and start working on it; adding that "the corporate world was looking for who would deliver better results".

She said working in the corporate world caled for decency in dressing, confidence and good communication skills and cautioned against hopping from job to job within very short periods as long term experience at a job could lead to greater and better job prospects.

She urged the students to put in place a five-year career goal and work towards it adding"You need to look for mentors. Look for people who will tell you the truth.

"Be careful about the perception you put out there about yourself, for you are the CEO of your own brand," she added.

She said in brand management, attitude was very pivotal.

"You can only be the best version of yourself. Don't be a photocopy of others," Mrs Essah said.

Mrs Dzigbordi Dosoo, the Chief Executive Officer, Allure Ghana, in her presentation, recounted a painful experience of how some years ago, she and two other Ghanaians were prevented abroad from participating in a training programme; because on the day, they were to be presented to the sponsors at a dinner, their code of dressing did not match the occasion.

She said they had to be deported to Ghana the next day and their places offered to others and advised the students to be mindful of their dress codes and the sort of image they put out there about themselves.

Professor Charles Bannor, the Pro-Vice Chancellor, UPSA, said programmes like the Annual Management and Professional Day Celebration, distinguishes products of the UPSA from other universities.

Prof Albert Puni, the Dean for the Faculty of Management Studies, UPSA, who chaired the function, said the aim of the Annual Management and Professional Day Celebration was part of efforts to prepare the would- be graduating students for the job market.

GNA