Jayme Marteniuk – Economics and Business Editor

Walk through campus and you’ll see it everywhere. Students are taking LinkedIn headshots, updating profile banners, perfecting elevator pitches and adding leadership titles to their bios. Quietly building something. Not a company. A brand.

At Bishop’s, the pressure to stand out is real. Internships are competitive, and it often feels like connections matter just as much as grades. Everyone knows LinkedIn isn’t “just another social platform.” It’s a public resume. A digital first impression. And most of us assume employers are Googling candidates and running background checks before interviews even happen. So we optimize.

We choose leadership roles because they signal initiative. We join athletics or SRC because, even if unpaid, they offer real experience and strong resume currency. We take positions that may not fully excite us but look strategic on paper. I’ve done it, and most students have.

This isn’t random; it reflects signaling theory in action. In competitive job markets, employers don’t have perfect information about candidates. So they rely on signals like internships, executive titles, GPA, extracurricular leadership, to infer qualities like competence, work ethic and ambition. The stronger the signal, the more credible the candidate appears.

In that sense, we’re not just students anymore. We’re curating portfolios of proof.

Image courtesy of Nick Youngson

Human capital theory adds another layer. Traditionally, education increases your value by building skills and knowledge. But today, it’s not enough to just develop skills; you have to display them. Your LinkedIn becomes a storefront, your resume becomes a marketing copy, and even your Instagram, whether active or silent, becomes part of your reputational footprint.

And many students adjust accordingly. I know I curate Instagram differently than I did in high school. In fact, I barely post anymore; it feels safer, more controlled and there’s less room for misinterpretation. Because once you realize your digital presence contributes to your professional reputation, you start thinking like a brand manager.

What’s interesting is that we don’t always talk about “building a personal brand.” It’s not a loud conversation on campus. But we practice it constantly, refining our pitch, expanding our network and strategically choosing roles. Reputation economics suggests that perception has economic value. If employers believe you’re capable and driven, that belief itself creates opportunity.

So are we becoming micro-entrepreneurs? In many ways, yes. Entrepreneurs build products, market them and compete for attention. Students are increasingly doing the same with themselves as the product. We invest in experiences, craft narratives around them and position ourselves in competitive markets.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that; in fact, it can be empowering. Leadership roles provide an accessible, meaningful experience. Campus involvement builds real skills. Strategic positioning is rational in a competitive labour market. But it also raises a subtle question: when does self-development turn into self-commodification? If every decision becomes strategic, if every experience is filtered through “Will this look good?”, we risk optimizing perception over authenticity.

Maybe the real competitive advantage isn’t just polishing the brand, but building substance behind it. Because in today’s job market, you’re not just applying for roles. You’re marketing a reputation.