Speaking to Dan Schwabel recently, we get an insight in personal branding for the Gen Y audience. Dan’s best-selling career book, Me 2.0 : Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success, which was published in April 2009, made the Amazon top 100 business book bestsellers list when it came out and is the #1 job hunting book. It’s a book on personal branding for the millennial generation written by one. Presently a Social Media Specialist at EMC Corporation, a leading technology company, Dan is also a syndicated columnist for Metro US and BusinessWeek’s youngest columnist.

When asked what he thought represented the characteristics of the progressive and ambitious Gen Y’er, Dan answered that this profile was really not that much different from any other generation. “You have to be an expert on a topic, work with integrity and honesty, be results oriented and constantly network in your industry. Also, you need to be a team player in and outside of the office and be focused on delivering value.” He argued that the Gen Y crowd would have to defeat some stereotypes, including their obsession with being CEO immediately upon college graduation and clinging onto managers who were really busy. They would also have to realise that more importantly, it was not just about self-promotion and gaining visibility, but instead value contribution.

It has been argued that there are substantial differences between Gen X and Gen Y. In particular, in organisations where Gen X are doing the hiring, and Gen Y represent the majority of current applicants coming through, one of the areas that a Gen X manager needs to focus on is how he needs to think about reaching out and enticing the Gen Y crowd to come on board. It is about creating the right environment and the right employer brand to be attractive. Technology, arguably, is important in capturing this crowd’s attention given that they already use these networks to interact and have been exposed to them from an early age. But Dan argues, Gen Y want a sense of purpose and they want to know that their job is having an impact on the company's bottom line results. “They also want mentoring from their manager and other people they may respect in the organisation. Most Gen-Y'ers don't last at their first job more than a year and a half, which is something you want to take into account. It's not a loyalty issue though because they know that if they switch companies, then they will get a larger salary and a better chance to climb the corporate hierarchy.”

Gen Y do place a lot of importance on personal branding and this is especially noticeable with the growth of social media platforms. Dan would argue that a lot of people believe it borders on narcissism, quoting reports that over 50% of their generation believe that they use social networks to self-promote. But people do want to share what they are doing, what they've achieved and what they are interested in. “It’s only natural…. and social media platforms enable it to happen much quicker than ever before. The majority of users on Facebook are still Gen-Y, but the fastest growing area is the baby boomer generation because Gen-Y is already on!”

The thing to remember is that the Web2.0 environment presents many opportunities to candidates now to position themselves and to be recruited on the basis of what they are passionate about. According to Dan, if you aren't online, then you don't exist. “People are using search terms to locate potential hires all the time, which means that you need to have profiles on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook etc to even be in the pool of people that may receive a new opportunity. Web 2.0 presents an opportunity for you to be your true self, project that image you want to convey and filter out all the opportunities that best align to your passion,” Dan argues.


Dan Schawbel is the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He is the bestselling author of Me 2.0, as well as the publisher of both the award winning Personal Branding Blog and Personal Branding Magazine. He is also a featured contributor to Mashable, LifeHack, and MediaPost and he has written articles for BrandWeek Magazine and Advertising Age.