Identifying and depicting the path toward personal branding based on individual competencies and quality of employment

Introduction: The aims’ study is to present a model of personal branding based on individual competencies and the employment. In this qualitative research, the grounded theory approach has been adopted for data collection. The aim is to develop a model; this study is categorized as exploratory and fundamental research. The study population consisted of experts and university professors in the Business Management, the Organizational Behavior Management, Human Resources, and Entrepreneurship departments, who know the concept of personal branding and extensively explored its various dimensions. A personal brand helps individuals emerge from obscurity and manifest by their abilities. Personal branding allows people to establish their position as a professional in their field of work and build a reputation for themselves. To develop a personal brand, it is essential to acquire and reinforce individual competencies. Researchers divide competence into two general categories: technical and behavioral. Technical competencies or technical knowledge is associated with the execution of a task, whereas behavioral competencies are concerned with how it is conducted, which embraces knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Research shows that if an individual possesses the knowledge and skills in a particular field, but their behavior and performance do not reflect that distinction and merit, they cannot be called competent in that field.
Previous research has primarily explored specific elements and variables of personal branding, and the role of individual competence and employment factors has largely been disregarded. Informed by the importance of personal branding research on the employment and the role of individual competencies in personal branding, this study investigates how a personal branding model could be developed within the framework of individual competencies by considering employment factors. In fact, this model aims to fill a gap in the personal branding processes by accounting for the role of employment the variables of individual competencies in developing and shaping this type of branding.
Case study: The development of individual competencies presents an effective strategy to reduce the unemployment rate. Hence, the main subject raised in this study is to develop a personal branding model based on individual competencies and employment.
Theoretical Framework: To build a personal brand, it is essential to acquire and improve individual competencies. Researchers split competence into two categories: technical and behavioral. Technical competencies or technical knowledge related to the execution of a task, and behavioral competencies are concerned with how the work is performed, which includes knowledge, skills, and attitudes. According to studies, if one possesses the necessary knowledge and skills in a particular field, but his behavior and performance fails to reflect that distinction and merits, he/she cannot be called competent in that field. In addition, competence is inherently associated with value creation and innovation. Even with a command of knowledge and skills and a well-adjusted attitude, entrapment in the stagnation of everyday life would suppress one’s competence, which has a direct impact on employment.
Methodology: Based on its purpose and nature, this is qualitative research. It is also exploratory in its attempt to present a model. Drawing on the grounded theory approach, this paper investigates a population of university professors, managers and consultants. Sampling conducted using the purposive sampling method. To do so, the snowball sampling technique adopted at this stage of the study. Data collected through interviews. All steps grounded theory did by using MAXQDA software also utilized for data analysis. Data encryption carried out using the following three steps: open coding, axial coding and selective coding.
Results and Discussion: The current study undertaken to present a personal branding model based on individual competencies and the employment within the framework of qualitative research. To extract dimensions and indicators and to formulate the model, the grounded theory approach used in three coding steps. The personal branding model based on individual competencies for someone’s employment developed after 20 interviews in three coding steps (open, axial, selective) using the grounded theory approach. The proposed model consists of three main components (personal branding, individual competencies, and employment). The paradigm model of this research inspired from Corbin and Strauss’s paradigm model. Despite these factors and conditions, the evaluation model and the process of developing a personal branding model designed based on individual competencies of someone’s for employment. Explaining factors linked to this subject was also one of the primary concerns of this research.
The adoption of the grounded theory approach to extract indicators of the above variables is another innovation of this research. Accordingly, some of the main findings of the research, which considered as its contribution to the body of knowledge in this field, are:

Presenting a local model of personal branding based on individual competencies and employment of someone, the gap of which strongly felt in the literature.
Identifying the indicators and dimensions associated with personal branding, derived from the grounded theory approach
Providing a new path and model for personal brand development

Conclusion: According to this study, individual competencies are linked to dimensions of personality traits and adaptability; employment is associated with the dimensions of job specifications, family, society, reward and income, and personal branding is related to the dimensions of cultural characteristics, lifestyle and skills. Hence, by focusing on developing individual competencies and employment, people can promote their personal brand in an attempt to foster their credibility in the working community, to build reputation, and to establish their social status and prestige.