A degree and a résumé say what you have done. A personal brand tells the people who hire what you are working to become, and lets them find you first.
The Manifesto's own example is the student fresh out of high school who wants a career but has no influence outside their peer group. A degree, the university's reputation, extracurriculars, and professors' recommendations each add validation. A personal brand adds the rest: a visible record that puts a candidate in front of the people who make hiring decisions.
Starting out is also an advantage. The Manifesto argues that a beginner can document the whole climb, the first attempts and the lessons, and that the people who were there early become the loudest supporters later. Hiring someone who is self-sufficient and visibly expanding their capabilities, it notes, is a decision that requires little thought.
Crafting an omnipresent personal brand may be the very thing that puts you in the crosshairs of decision-makers.
Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, Second Edition, 8.5
Most students and early career job seekers are known to classmates, teachers, and family. The Local Hero, known by name in a field, a campus, or a city's industry, is the first target, and it is reachable through deliberate effort while still in school.
Where most stand: Tier 2, Friends and FamilyBuild toward: Tier 3, The Local Hero
The tier measures how large a position is. How good it is, is measured by The Five Personal Brand Pillars. Read more about the six tiers.
The moves MCG starts with for students and job seekers, grouped by pillar, in order. Each one cites the subchapter of Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence it comes from.
Advice Isaac Mashman has given on his own shows and in interviews that applies to students and job seekers, from the same library MCG consultants work from. Each one keeps the words he said it in, and links to the transcript where there is one.
Post about the person you are working to become and the steps you are taking toward it. Do not fake the arrival; show the commitment.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“i am working to become this person”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “Being A Public Figure”, September 26, 2020
Before a job interview, decide what culture you want, list the questions you expect, and write down the value you bring, cultural and technical. Show up looking good.
“remember that you're selling yourself”
Unrivaled Results with Mashman Ventures, “UNRIVALED: Personal Branding Training”, April 13, 2022
If a search for your name returns nothing about you, set a goal to own the first page within a year: profiles, interviews, articles, and a site of your own.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“the only thing that popped up was something from ancestry”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “The Fundamentals of Personal Branding”, August 19, 2020
Pick conferences and gatherings by the people you will meet and learn from, not by the program. List the three people you want to meet before you register.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“not because of what it was but because of who was going to be there”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “The Fundamentals of Personal Branding”, August 19, 2020
All consumed media educates, entertains, inspires, or connects. The Skyline Strategy asks for two pieces about your work for every one about your life. Here is one of each, for each purpose.
| Purpose | Brand Post | Personal Post |
|---|---|---|
| EducateTeach something useful. | One thing you learned in your field this week, explained simply. | How you study or prepare. |
| EntertainMake it enjoyable to follow you. | The project that went wrong, and what it taught you. | Your life outside class or the search. |
| InspireShow what is possible. | The first result you are proud of. | Why you chose this field. |
| ConnectGive people a reason to reply. | Ask people in your target field what they wish they had known. | Thank a teacher or mentor in public. |
Draw a Week
Two posts about your work, one about your life, drawn from the ideas above.
Plan the ratio with the free Skyline Planner (opens in a new tab).
The record a hiring manager finds is the one you built before you applied. Start it now.
Some actions follow you for the rest of your career. Review what is public under your name before an employer searches it.
Say what you are working to become and the steps you are taking. Never claim the arrival before it happens.
Twenty-five questions, about seven minutes, free. Choose Other on the intake, name your field, and the audit scores all five pillars, places you on The Hierarchy of Personal Branding, and returns the three moves that would raise your score most, each traced to the subchapter it comes from.
The firm’s topic guide on the subject, with the doctrine, terms, tips, and interviews in one place: Personal Brand Strategy.
Every student already has one; the Manifesto counts the kind of student you were as part of it. Building it on purpose is the choice, and the Manifesto applies it to the student out of middle school as much as to the next business mogul.
It makes you findable and credible to the people who hire before you meet them: a complete profile, a visible record in the field you want, people who will vouch for your work, and relationships with decision makers started early.
Document the start. The Manifesto holds that a beginner has a home-field advantage: showing the early work and the lessons honestly builds credibility before the expertise arrives.
More executives are becoming the public face of their companies. The ones who do it well build a presence before a crisis or a stock price asks them to.
The best builders are often the least known. A personal brand makes the work you shipped visible to the people who hire, fund, and follow product leaders.
Performance earns attention. A personal brand decides whether that attention is still yours when the season, the contract, or the playing career ends.
Be transparent about what you want and why. Letting your intent be known creates advocates out of the people around you.
How you would describe yourself in less than a minute. The Manifesto's version is not a sales pitch; it sells you as someone to get to know or follow.
A quality contact list lets you solve other people's problems with a simple introduction, and makes you the person whose name comes up first.
Chapter 2 of the Manifesto sets out four laws that build in order. Without familiarity there is no connection; without fame and influence, a personal brand has little reach or weight.
How MCG measures the quality of a personal brand. Five pillars, always in this order, weighted into one composite out of 100.
Engagements are accepted by application and seats are limited each quarter. Tell us who you are, what you are building, and the position you intend to hold.
Consultations are virtual or in person. See what each includes, and what is asked of you: Virtual or In Person.
