As a communications officer by trade, you would think it would be pretty simple for me to come up with a personal brand. After all, my job duties require a lot of writing and marketing. But, if anything, I feel like I face an even bigger challenge because I am competing with other exceptional writers. We all work to promote and market certain products or services, so we can all transfer those skills and promote ourselves.
So what makes me stand out? For one, I graduated from one of the best journalism programs in the country at Carleton University. Going through the honours program improved my writing tremendously and, when it comes to journalism and communications in the working world, so many people don’t have that formal training behind them.
But I think my most noteworthy trait is my Type A personality. I’m passionate, driven and a perfectionist, not just when it comes to my work, but to every aspect of my life. I’m very organized (and, admittedly, pretty anal), so I stay on top of my tasks and never miss a deadline. Ever since I was a kid, I was never ok with just scraping by when it came to my marks in school or in sports. I wanted to be the best at everything and refused to settle for average. These personality traits translate well to my chosen career path.
From an experience perspective, I have a fairly diverse background that makes me versatile. I’ve done communications work for an animal welfare organization, a few sports organizations and I’m now working in higher education. I’ve developed communications strategies and a variety of digital and print materials, written countless press releases, feature stories and content for marketing collateral, and managed my fair share of websites. I’ve held apprenticeships with Rogers Sportsnet and CFRA News and even had the chance to cover the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup for the Canadian Soccer Association.
When it comes down to it, my education, personality and experience combine to make communications a perfect fit for me.
Christina Atallah, Type A comms officer extraordinaire.
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 