Self-branding lets workers claim aspirational job titles regardless of actual rank

Evidence

Even people with more traditional job titles used self-branding strategies. Tara Hunt described herself as “an author, speaker, consultant, and marketing strategist, with a heavy focus on online strategy,” as did Anu Nigam, who called himself a “serial entrepreneur and an angel investor.” Both used enterprise language to mark themselves as modern workers in the high-technology sector. Hunt positioned herself above the average marketing drone by describing herself as an author, speaker, and consultant. Similarly, while Nigam called himself a “serial entrepreneur,” a high-status term for someone who launches several successful startups, he had worked as a rank-and-file engineer for many of his former employers. These techniques—coining slogans to describe oneself and emphasizing the positive—are key parts of self-branding. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 468

Categorization

• DEFINE: Concretely illustrates the self-branding technique of coining status-elevating slogans to describe oneself.
• XREF: connects to: Public self-promotion is now required for employment across many occupations — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 406; Tech workers adopt invented marketing titles to brand their skills for employers — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 467