Personal Branding with Jarkko Sjöman

So I got into class with a bunch of strange people to talk about personal branding, in tutorship of Jarkko Sjöman. (Twitter: @j_sjoman)

 Educate yourself:

Jarkko was a laidback relaxed guy who at the time was sporting a movember mustache and a REALLY standout tie.
And the notes aka "Teachings" i was able to make were as follows:

1. Establish yourself as a brand.
2. Make sure you stand out.
3. Market yourself and communicate in medias.
4. If you can't be found with Google, you just don't exist.
5. E-mail and paper portfolios are to be things of the past.
6. Your social environment and your personal brands visibility are going to be essential concerning employment in companies in your future.
7. Traditional employment processes wither. Deals for employment are made in networks instead of formal methods.
8. Headhunters are already finding employees through social media.
9. This day and age, knowhow is not sold, it is found.
10. Companies appreciate your networks. Those contacts are the most valuable part of your brand.
11. Employment process usually has only one winner.
12. Vision? Mission? Target? Passion? Teamwork? What is your brand about?
13. Produce interesting dialogue online. Talk, innovate, challenge and do all you can think of.
14.Think about what would you like your professional image to be, and how to achieve it.
15. Job-hunting skills are going to be highlighted in the future, so why not start to apply as a hobby?
16. What you do and who you are more important than your school diploma. And just diploma is not gonna secure you a job like it once did.
17. Your digital footprint is your own responsibility, and it's one responsibility you have control over also. All the tools are free and are there waiting for you.
18. Keep your honest passion in the center of your activities! Don't try to be anyone else!

Liked the seminar a lot! Had fun and got a lot to think about. Have you been working on your personal branding? How did your experiences go? Answer in the comment field, and let me know. :)

Months of Silence, Not Inactivity

Blog writing has not been my priority lately. So I'll summarize what I've been up to.

Project Management. That right now is the big word for me. I've bought "The Rules Of Management" by Richard Templar. And I love it! 107 compiled unspoken rules of management. It is very entertaining to read. In fact I was asked: "How the hell can a book like that make you laugh?" so I read out loud from the Rule 8: Know Your Own Importance.

"
Listen, if you don't set a standard, raise the tone, be the person you want your team to be, then you wont be a great manager. Your team is like a flock of birds or sheep or, well, anything that comes in a flock.(except maybe wallpaper) Where one goes,  they all go. And you're the one they all follow. If you shine, everyone shines. If you fail, everyone fails. Because of you. Scary Huh?
"

I started out as Project Manager at Citizen's Helpdesk in January of the current year. Mainly making sure peoples computers got fixed in a timely manner. But also learning heaps about what it means to be a manager. And about management skills. About how each individual needs different kind of incentive to get them to give the best they got. About creating the working environment, that makes people want to come to the work. And how to hand down critic when something is done poorly. Keeping workers motivated and self employed.
Here's their website for the interested: http://www.kansalaisenmikrotuki.fi/

As I was working there I also activated myself in improving the schools project environment. Sitting (sleeping) trough class after class of theory, just does not suit me well. So I thought of an environment where students could set up projects and trough those projects they could gain the credits and project working skills, from a subject in the area of the course, but more centered in their own interests.

Thus "Project Oriented Students of Turku University of Applied Sciences" was born as a Facebook group.
You can join @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/330960197021464/

Right now the group mainly consists of Information Technology students, but the goal is to be cross between all of the study fields. And make awesome things possible through collaboration.

Though my activation Project Coordinator for TUAS contacted me for an opening in a coming project. I assigned myself as a willing applicant, and so when my Project Management in Citizens Helpdesk was over. I seamlessly transferred to KaleidosCup- project group as a "student work coordinator", a kind of project manager.

KaleidosCup is a student competition that strives to produce innovative and cultural solutions to metal- and maritime industries. So even today I am there to make this competition happen. I'll update more after the competition.
For those interested in the student competition visit: http://www.kaleidoscup.fi/
This is a WordPress based site that I designed, and put together. And administrate currently.

Looking forward to my graduation, I started to write my thesis on subject :
"Using social media as a tool for project management"
I'll get the link to the web release here, as soon as I can. Deadline at the end of February 2014

So that is what I've been up to! Got any news in tech field you want to share with me? Please comment! :)