Week 11 (Research & Activity) - For this week’s Spark forum, we’d love to hear your thoughts and feelings about creating a personal brand. This is a great opportunity to share any resources you already have such as portfolio websites, social networking accounts, style guides, CVs or anything else you think is relevant.
I love the notion of creating a personal brand; I believe we are quite fortunate to live in this day and age where we have the opportunity to promote our interests and passions. However, this also means it is much harder to stand out, considering how many people take up the same notion. Having said that, I don’t think that is a viable reason not to try! Moreover, you might not have created a personal brand for the sole purpose of getting noticed and as such, your popularity could become a consequence of just sharing your passions on a consistent basis.
My first online presence was in the form of a YouTube channel. I use this channel to upload gaming music videos (GMVs) from time to time as I have a passion for music and editing! Nowadays, I am attempting to push for a career in indie game development as a full-time developer in a small team. In addition, I have personal projects as a solo developer under the name, SelfMadeGames. In a perfect world, I hope to continue to build on all these platforms, although nothing is ever written in stone! Lastly, I do not really take to social media as a way to promote myself or engage with an audience, as I would struggle with constant communication. Below I have included links to sites/platforms where I currently have an online presence.
Th3_Jackanator [YouTube]
SelfMadeGames [Itch.io]
Jack Self – Indie Game Developer [Portfolio]
Jack Self [LinkedIn]
*Sidenote: I made the brand names when I was much younger! Please don’t judge me too harshly! 😂
Figure 1: YouTube Channel (Th3 Jackanator)
Figure 2: Itch.io Page (SelfMadeGames)
Falmouth University Real WORKS
I am now in the midst of completing The Art of the Approach, and I have to agree with some of my peers - it is extremely CV oriented. Therefore, I feel like it lacks proper value in topics such as networking and how to create a personal brand. Having said that, it is teaching me how to enhance my CV, and it does offer advice on how to promote myself online via LinkedIn. Once I have completed the curriculum, I feel like I will be in a better position to update my portfolio site and CV.
Furthermore, I am grateful Falmouth University has an employability service. However, I am not currently seeking employment. I believe this material will be invaluable in a year or so once I know what I want to do and have reached the final stages of the MA. I plan to review my options and decide later.
This section will be updated once I have completed The Art of the Approach curriculum.
Reviewing my SMART Goals
This week's lecture is about SMART actions (goals) discussed by Dr Michael Scott. Scott states that setting up SMART actions can help shape your future practice and improve reflective writing. Furthermore, Scott recommends two sources that can help bolster your understanding of SMART actions - these sources can be found under 'References'.
Having established my SMART goals in the Week 5 CRJ post, 'CRJ Reflection & SMART Goals', I felt it was time to revisit the SMART goals to amend any uncertainties as I am nearing the end of this module and heading into a new one. My updated SMART goals will be relevant to my career desires.
Gameplay Design & Programming:
"I will improve my design skills by planning unique and engaging gameplay mechanics, which I will later develop in Unity. I will achieve this by adhering to specific prototyping techniques before I begin implementation during the next practical module."
"In addition, I will enhance my programming skills by committing four hours a week for the duration of the next module to learning advanced C#."
Indie Game Development:
"I will track any development using time management software, such as HacknPlan and organise my tasks during the next practical module, thus staying on top of my studies and identifying my work velocity for future projects. I will commit to a work lifestyle that is both convenient and effective to avoid burnout."
Becoming a Better Academic Writer:
I will enhance my academic writing by researching and citing appropriate sources relevant to my studies. I will achieve this by Harvard referencing at least two sources outside of the weekly university material for every research post during the next module.
Conclusion & Reflection
In conclusion, I was keen to share my online brands with peers and likewise fascinated to read about theirs. I then swiftly moved on to completing The Art of the Approach. However, I have not yet finished the entire curriculum. This objective presented an obstacle as I do not see real benefit in completing it now as I am not currently seeking employment. Although the sections I did finish taught me ways to promote myself online via LinkedIn and enhance my CV.
The lecture on SMART actions by Dr Michael Scott reminded me to review my own SMART goals as I am now further into the module with a greater understanding of how they function. I believe it was the correct decision to amend these goals as they were quite vague. I hope these new goals will help me achieve my ambitions for this MA.
References
Doran, G., 1981. There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write managements's goals and objectives. [ebook] Available at: <https://community.mis.temple.edu/mis0855002fall2015/files/2015/10/S.M.A.R.T-Way-Management-Review.pdf> [Accessed 13 April 2022].
Huey-tsyh, C., 2015. Practical program evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
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