Impression Management in the Workplace: Internship Students' Personal Branding Strategy

The role of personal branding is significant in the workplace because it can provide benefits for one's professional career. Students with internship or working experience should recognize the essence of managing impression, both in the workplace and online, to avoid negative perception and image in the workplace, which can ruin their potential career development. To achieve good personal branding, selfpresentation and impression management strategy are needed. This study aims to explore strategies implemented by the student interns at a private university in Indonesia to present themselves to achieve a good impression and branding in the workplace. The research was conducted using interviews and social media documentation through LinkedIn to gain insight on the chosen strategy, the consideration, and its application. The concepts of personal branding and impression management were used to analyze the finding. The result showed that the students experienced stages of personal brand development from image planning, image, and strategy adjustment, to its implementation. However, while they initially planned on using the impression management strategy focusing on showing their competence or hard skill, the interns adjusted to exemplification strategies that emphasizes on self-character and soft skills since it was considered more appropriate and it would benefit them to give the best impression. Additionally, they utilize LinkedIn to build their professional profile and present their experience and expertise.