WHO AM I

MY PERSONAL BRAND

I am a doctoral candidate in Social Science, studying the retirement demographic and interested in whether the use of technology and social media will make the transition to retirement easier.  I am also a retiree, with a long career in the technology sector.  My goal is to use the information acquired while completing my thesis to create a product/business aimed at retirees and how they can most benefit from using technology.  While I have not completely defined the nature of the business, it will need skills and knowledge related to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and social media.  I may start a business, join an existing business as an employee or work as an independent consultant .  Whichever route I take, operations knowledge will be required.  I hope to differentiate myself as I am in a unique position of being a retiree and therefore understanding the challenges faced before, during and after transition from the workforce.  My product will be teaching material and aids that will benefit those who are either not familiar with the technology or are reluctant to use it.

The audience for my blog will be potential employers/partners with similar objectives, as well as retirees. The blog will give stories of working with retirees – successes, challenges and shared experiences leading improving lifestyles through using technology and social media.  The blog will be used to create awareness of the issues retirees face.   It will also be a means of advertising the product by making use of key words and including the blog address on all my social media accounts. 

With the tasks and objectives described above, and the two distinct audiences, the personal brand I hope to portray will that of an individual with corporate operations and project management experience who understands the concepts of technology.  I will need to be seen as a logical thinker and team player who understands the needs and challenges of those facing the realities of retirement. 

I will relate my many years of experience – both technical and working with individuals.  I believe that my greatest strength was working with people, as an employee, colleague and employer.  It was always possible to solve a technical problem, but the greatest challenge was in motivating individuals and resolving personal conflicts.  My persona brand from this perspective is that of a firm but compassionate experienced individual with a comprehensive understanding of the user.

While not a technical expert, I have sufficient understanding of its application and social media to effectively teach and motivate users.  My personal brand from this perspective is that of someone who has sufficient knowledge and experience to impart knowledge.

My greatest attribute is that I can appreciate both perspectives – I can identify with the user but have also lived through the advancement of technology.  My personal brand from this perspective is that I have both the technical and business skills required as well as a first- hand experience of the needs and challenges of the user.

Until I started working on the ONE award course, although I knew that I would need to make use of social media at some point, I did not realise that it is not too soon to be using social media for my personal profile.

MY  CURRENT USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND HOW I WILL USE IT IN THE FUTURE

Being of the senior demographic, I was not an enthusiastic user of social media.  I joined Linkedin ten years ago, while I was an independent consultant but not understand its usefulness as a networking tool and did not solicit connections.    I have not updated my profile, and it is not only obsolete but does not reflect the personal brand I wish to portray.  From the material and web chats of the ONE course, I have realised that social media is a necessary and powerful tool to publicize and manage my career.

I regarded Facebook as being for a very young age group.  None of my personal  ‘friends’ were using it.  Gradually this changed, and I joined – again only responding to requests.  At this point, I was already enrolled in the doctoral program and felt that I would need to become more familiar with the tool.  I do not have a profile and do not post anything.  I occasionally look at updates to see what my Facebook friends are posting.

I do not use, and am not familiar with Twitter or Google+.

My approach to social media is about to change.  I now realize that Linkedin will be valuable to me both during my thesis and for furthering my career.  The first step will be to update my profile to reflect what I am now doing.  I will then review the list of my contacts and in turn theirs. I will significantly expand the number of contacts by inviting anyone I feel will be able to help me with my research and then with the product.  I will include the link to my Facebook account, and the Twitter account I plan to create and will also seek out groups of common interest and get involved in these.

My use of Facebook will also change.  It too needs an updated profile, more ‘friends’ and targeted groups.  While writing my thesis, I will post items of interest, given that many of my ‘friends’ are in the retirement demographic.  I will also look for groups that deal with seniors, retirement and social media.  I hope to reach not only the users, but potential individuals and companies with an interest in training.  My Linkedin and Twitter accounts will be contained the profile.

I will create a Twitter account and learn to use it effectively by seeking out users to follow who have similar interests.  By responding to these, I will hopefully get my own followers.  Again I will use the experience and knowledge I gain while writing my thesis. 

I do not intend to use Google+, but will follow its progression.  Should it become more universally utilized, I will become a follower.

Having established this Blog, I will keep it up to date with my experiences during my research.  It will contain links to all other social media I use.

Using social media can not only help with my research, but by the time I have finished my thesis and am ready to utilize my product, will have an on-line presence that is strong, reflects by personal brand and helps me with my career.

REFLECTIONS ON MAKING CONNECTIONS/ON EMPLOYERS USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA.

As a retiree, I am not looking for a long and challenging career.  However, on completion of my thesis I will have gained skills and knowledge that will be of use to retirees during a challenging time and will want to put this to good use.  I also see a large business potential as this is a fast increasing demographic. 

There are several options – all of which will require making connections using social media. Perhaps the easiest and most obvious is to seek out companies who specialize in senior education and use of social media.  These employers will be using social media to staff their companies.  They may either do so by advertising on line, or more likely by connections.  I will have already made contact with such companies by means of my use of social media.  If there is a fit, hopefully opportunities will be recognized both by me and the potential employer.  Given that geography is no longer a factor and I am flexible in terms of hours of work, I am confident that some opportunity will arise.  I will be active on my blog, Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter and keep pushing my brand and expertise.  I will also follow what companies are posting and use this to make contacts with individuals in organizations that can be of assistance.

An alternative is for me to become a partner with an individual with like interests.  Opportunities for this are similar to seeking employment.  The major difference is that I will be targeting and individual, not a company.  In this case I will actively seek out, through social media (mostly Linkedin) such an individual.  This may be by following the posts of others, or by my postings.  I will also reach out to my contacts and theirs, to make my search and aspirations known.

The third option is for me to become a self employed consultant.  In this case, my ‘employers’ will be groups or individuals who could benefit from my services.   By being active on social media, I hope to reach those who know of potential beneficiaries.  By definition, those who would benefit are not those who would be using social media.  I would target social clubs, sports clubs and other groups that have a membership of retirees and work with them to publicise my services on their web sites and Facebook pages. 

I would also target organizations who have employees who are about to retire.  Many such companies have funds for retirement training.  During my research, I will maintain contact with such organizations by posting blogs, tweets etc. to keep up my profile.  From the ONE course I learned that it would be beneficial to follow selected companies’ posts on Linkedin and ‘like’ them on Facebook.  When I am ready to work, I will have already made the contacts.  The company HR staff regularly check for suitable consultants.  I will need to make sure that I have a profile that will lead them to me.  Conversely, I will follow their social media sites to identify opportunities and make contacts.  I will also join interest groups on Linkedin that are related to retirement.  This will expose my product to a group who may either be interested themselves or to their contacts.