Personal branding: Career opportunities for business students

Abstract

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Globalization and the 4.0 industrial revolution have created significant changes and higher demands in the field of job seeking, especially for young human resources professionals who are new graduates. This study focuses on exploring the mediating role of first impressions of these subjects in building personal brands to improve employability. The study was conducted at 06 universities in Ho Chi Minh City with a survey sample of 608 students from the second to fourth year of Business, with 03 public schools and 03 non - public schools. Data analyzed using Smart PLS 4.0.9.2 demonstrated that first impressions, including clothing impression and presentation competence, play a mediating role in the positive relationship between personal branding and sense of employability. The study is meaningful in orienting educational institutions to focus on equipping personal knowledge and skills to build a comprehensive strategy for students, after graduation, to have high employability, maximize capacity, and career opportunities in accordance with the major they have studied.</span></p>