LinkedIn Said My Degree Is a Brand

career fair panel told us to "personal brand" our research interests. i study labor precarity. hard to fit on a banner. recruiter wanted buzzwords. i wanted a job that pays enough to finish the program. Gen Z career path is a maze built by people who had cheaper tuition. the department lounge had free cookies and competitive silence. two people discussed a fellowship i am not applying for because deadlines are also a personality test. i highlighted a paragraph until the page tore slightly. small violence. the argument i am building needs one more source and six more hours i do not have. the library closed before i finished color-coding the stack. security flicked the lights once as a hint. i packed my bag with three books i might not open and one pdf i definitely need. graduate school is a life built from borrowed time and lukewarm tea. the bus home was late and i read another abstract on my phone like that counts as rest.

Career fair panel told us to personal brand our research interests. I study labor precarity. Hard to fit on a banner.

The recruiter wanted buzzwords. I wanted a job that pays enough to finish the program.

Gen Z career advice is a maze built by people who had cheaper tuition and a housing market that did not laugh at them.

Personal branding assumes you are selling yourself willingly. Sometimes you are just trying to survive the degree that was supposed to be the bridge.

I updated my profile anyway. The headline still feels like a costume.

The institution rewards certainty. The work requires doubt. I live in that gap with tea, deadlines, and the stubborn belief that one clear paragraph can still move a reader.

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