Leveraging Your Personal “Code Halo”
This post was written by Jaclyn Gaines ’16, CCD Peer Career Ambassador.
I recently read the book, Code Halos: How the Digital Lives of People, Things, and Organizations are Changing the Rules of Business, which is written by Malcolm Frank, Paul Roehrig, and Ben Pring. Essentially, the book talks about Big Data and how it is vital for companies to utilize all of the information available to them in order to be successful in their respective industries. This book also looks into the idea of “employee Code Halos,” which is what I would like to focus on today. One quote in the book that really struck me was this: “Our employee Code Halos can be far richer and more powerful than many consumer halos, as they comprise our work histories, subject matter expertise, perspectives, work styles and experiences. Employee halos facilitate getting the right work to the right person at the right time, all contextualized within a workstream — delivering the most appropriate organizational assets to the individual.”
So what does this mean for us? How can college students employ the values articulated in “employee Code Halos”? Here are a few instances where we can utilize “employee Code Halos” in helping us advance in our careers:
1. Developing Our Personal Brand: If you’ve ever taken a marketing course, you will know that branding is a huge aspect of successful companies. The same is said for how we choose to portray ourselves in the work environment. Our choices of what experiences we want to have, what clubs we partake in, the skills we acquire, the course we take, etc. can all help develop YOUR personal brand. In turn, companies will be looking to hire people with a strong brand that matches what they are looking for.
2. Networking: Just as you are an asset to future employers, so are the people within your network. For that reason, it is important to utilize people in your network to make connections, gain experience, and learn insights so that you can bring this knowledge to your new job.
3. Specialize: Find an area of business that really interests you and let your passion shine through. The more invested you are in a topic, the more inclined you will be to want to learn about it, find experiences relating to it, and become an expert in that subject matter. The more knowledge you acquire about a specific area, the closer you are to being on the receiving end of “getting the right work to the right person at the right time.”
I definitely recommend this book as there is so much to learn about living in a world where Big Data has become so prevalent. Be sure to check out the link to the book below!
http://www.cognizant.com/latest-thinking/code-halos