Let’s get personal: using swot and fab as the foundation to develop students’ personal brands

Today’s marketing students face an increasingly turbulent job-search environment as companies assess and modify their hiring needs and practices. As marketing educators, we can help our students better position themselves in the market by helping them identify their individual strengths (and weaknesses) and articulate their professional goals. To this end, the authors have outlined a dual-purpose exercise wherein students: 1) learn and apply two key marketing methods (SWOT and FAB); and 2) lay a stronger foundation for building their personal brand. Effectively, students apply these key marketing principles to themselves, in order to discover their unique qualities. In turn, they are then better prepared to take actions that enhance their personal brand in the job-search process. Empirical evidence shows that students not only enjoyed the assignment but became more confident in their understanding of key marketing models. In addition, they demonstrated a higher level of comfort with the concept of marketing themselves and developing a personal brand. This assignment can be implemented in a variety of classes in multiple formats, as a simple one-time assignment or part of a larger career and personal branding module. The prescribed assignment has been tested in three marketing courses and multiple modalities.