While many college students are thinking about their upcoming spring break plans, there’s no doubt that another issue is prominent in their minds: Will I have a job or internship this summer?

While overall hiring is expected to be down, many top companies (including my firm) are still hiring. This means the question students should be asking is: What is the secret to landing a job right now?Today, landing a job requires uniqueness. Today’s students need to focus on and promote their individual strengths. They need to stand out from their peers and be unique. They need a personal brand.What exactly does it mean to develop a personal brand, especially for a college student who still may be developing as a person? It means having a understanding of one’s distinctive strengths. It means knowing oneself and knowing how to communicate that to others. It goes beyond GPA. To be sure, some people take the concept of uniqueness and personal branding too far. Canned self-introductions and gimmicky colored resumes won’t fly. And there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Students need to be careful not to turn off recruiters with too much style and not enough substance.To help students learn more about the right way to approach personal branding, this week PricewaterhouseCoopers is sponsoring a national initiative called Personal Brand Week. Each day of the week of Feb. 22 will focus on one of the five elements we recommend that students master in order to develop personal brands that will help land them jobs and internships: 

•         Elevator pitch. This is a basic introduction of who you are and what you’re looking for (that, theoretically, can be said in the short duration of an elevator ride).•        Passion. Authentic passion is attractive and demonstrates traits like commitment, being well rounded and enthusiastic. Recruiters look for passion because it is the quality that drives people to arrive at work with energy and enthusiasm.•         Authentic relationships. The best professional networks begin with one’s friends and family and extend naturally from there. The people we know have a significant influence on who we are and how we behave.•         Online presence. Hundreds of millions of people are on social networks; students should not forget that some of those people are potential employers and future colleagues. The best student personal brands include a professional and appropriate online presence.•         Future goals. Having a strong personal brand involves knowing where you’re going in life. We want to hire young people who have put serious thought into their futures. 

While these five elements won’t guarantee a job interview at PricewaterhouseCoopers or elsewhere, they are important guidelines for any student who is eagar to stand out from the crowd and find a job this spring. And here’s the beauty of developing a personal brand at a young age: ultimately, it’s an exercise in becoming your best self.   

• Holly Paul