Visibility: Personal Branding
If the term “Personal Brand” makes you cringe, you're not alone. But after diving deeper into the topic this week, I’ve come to believe that developing your personal brand is incredibly important. Here’s why:
February Theme: Visibility
This month, we're diving into the topic of visibility—a key aspect of building your career and influence as a software engineer. Visibility is how much attention you attract to yourself, your work, and your contributions. It influences your career trajectory, helps you build relationships, and opens doors for new opportunities.
Defining your own brand
At its core, personal branding is about how you present yourself to the world. It’s the reputation you build over time, based on what you do, how you do it, and how you communicate it. It’s not about crafting a false image or striving to become a technical expert—it’s about aligning who you are with how you show up, whether at work, in meetings, or online.
Why Should Software Engineers Care About Branding?
We often think of branding as something reserved for public figures or influencers. But here's why you, as a software engineer, should think about it:
1. Career Advancement:
Understanding your personal brand makes interviewing for new roles much easier. You'll have a clearer sense of your personal values and a portfolio of work to back it up, both of which are essential for advancing to more senior roles.
2. Opportunities:
A strong personal brand attracts the right opportunities—whether that's a job offer, a side project, or an invitation to speak at a tech conference. People are drawn to those they know and trust, and your personal brand helps foster that trust.
3. Networking:
Building your personal brand enhances networking by allowing you to connect with others on a deeper level. When your reputation precedes you, people already know who you are and what you care about.
4. It's there whether you define it or not:
Your personal brand is essentially your reputation—it’s already there, whether you actively cultivate it or not. Would you rather define it in alignment with your values or let others shape it based on their perception of you?
How to Build Your Personal Brand
1. Reflect on Your Values and Strengths
To build a personal brand, you must first understand your core values and strengths. What sets you apart from others? Is it your ability to simplify complex problems for non-technical stakeholders? Maybe it’s your passion for improving code performance, or your role as a mentor who helps others thrive?
Take time to reflect on your core strengths and values. The clearer you are about these, the easier it becomes to create an authentic brand. This isn't about pretending to be someone you’re not—it’s about amplifying what makes you unique.
It’s crucial that your personal brand reflects your true self, or it will be difficult to sustain in the long run. If you’re unsure, think back to past performance reviews or feedback from others. Sometimes, it’s hard to objectively assess your own contributions, but others can provide insight into what you're truly good at.
2. Build with Consistency
One of the most important aspects of personal branding is consistency. This is why authenticity is key! It would be nearly impossible to maintain an image that isn't true to you.
Ensure you're presenting a consistent image of yourself across all platforms. Update your social profiles to reflect your brand. Make sure your introductions and first impressions align with that image (first impressions matter!).
And most importantly, ensure the work you do aligns with your personal values. If your job doesn’t reflect your values, it’ll be challenging to remain engaged and grow in that role.
3. Build Something Durable
Create a reputation that will follow you into future roles. If your entire network and portfolio of work are confined to your current employer, you may face challenges if things change.
Consider writing blog posts, giving talks, or engaging in communities—whether online or at meetups. You don’t have to go all in or dedicate endless hours, but ensure a Google search of your name brings up a few things that reflect what you care about.
Don’t do this solely for the sake of “branding.” Focus on sharing things you genuinely enjoy with the world.
The Deep Dive
Instead of the traditional deep dive article, this week I’m sharing my own journey through the steps outlined above, hoping it inspires you to take time for reflection and growth, too.
1. Values and Strengths
After reflecting this week, here are some of the things I value and feel I’m good at:
Learning & Knowledge: I love being a software engineer because there’s always something new to learn.
Ethical Software: I strongly believe in using software for good. It should be designed to enhance people’s lives, not trick them into giving up their money or time.
Helping Others Thrive: Here’s how I do that:
Sharing knowledge with others
Encouraging my team to work better together
Offering feedback to help people see their strengths
Mentoring those early in their careers or from underrepresented backgrounds
Giving people the space to shine and creating opportunities for them to do their best work
I’m not the most technical person in the room, but my value lies in getting things done. I’m skilled at prioritizing company goals and customer value, and I can turn around a struggling project or system. I’d rather admit when I don’t understand something than waste time pretending I do.
2. Building with consistency
I feel I’ve done a good job positioning myself in alignment with these values, but I plan to update my social media and personal sites to reflect them even more clearly. I’m fortunate to work at GitHub, which offers an incredible environment to align with these values.
3. Build something durable
I’ve been working on this for some time—writing blog posts, creating this newsletter, and networking both online and at meetups. It’s a gradual process, but I’m focused on doing things I genuinely enjoy and making time for them. I don’t want to burn myself out on side quests.
Overall, these steps have been incredibly helpful. I now feel more confident in my personal brand and, more importantly, I feel like I can truly be my authentic self.
Take some time this week to reflect on your own personal brand. What do you want to be known for? What steps can you take to ensure you’re living your values?
If you’re comfortable sharing, tell me about it at brittany@balancedengineer.com! I’d love to hear your thoughts—and I might even have a few suggestions if you get stuck. After all, I’m passionate about helping others bring out their best!
Thank You!
If you’ve made it this far, then thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to read this, and hope you have an awesome week!
Here’s a silly web comic I made this week:
Have comments or questions about this newsletter? Or just want to chat? Send me an email at brittany@balancedengineer.com or reach out on Bluesky or LinkedIn.
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