Ways for students to build and improve their personal image

Caption: Students at the Image Consultant Education Course practice posing to create a positive image under the guidance of their instructor.

It only takes about three minutes to make a first impression and that first impression determines acceptance or denial, and even success or failure. So says the book provided byEwha Career Development Center, “A Guide for Ewha Students’ Career Development.” First impressions also last for a long time, and are far more important than we think. Here are some tips for students who wish to build a positive image before going out into wider society.

Ewha’s School of Continuing Education offers Image Consultant Education Course, which is now holding its sixth term, and a new course called Successful Image Making, which just started this year. These courses aim to improve learners’ ability to analyze and diagnose their image scientifically, cognitively, and with statistical methods that will facilitate to form good relationships. The main lecturer of this course is Kim Kyung-ho, the first person to introduce an image-making program to Korea. Kim has drawn learners ranging from university students to businessmen and civil service officers. Kim said, “It is important to study hard and struggle to do your best job at school. But what is more important is to look at your life as a whole and find the right direction to head your life towards. By image making, you can find out more about yourself and thus figure out how to project a true image that will appeal to others naturally.”

Park Jenny took Kim’s course to improve her image and woman advertising model. Before Park took the course, she says she only wore black and grey clothes that made her look stern. However, the instructors of the course helped her change her image drastically, which yielded positive results. “I was told that pastel tones suit me, so I dared to challenge myself and changed my style. With it, my previous image, which was rather stern and stiff, changed to a soft and more elegant one.”

The change in Park’s image was also beneficial for her job. “My change of image allowed me to successfully play the role of a gentle and tender mom in one commercial. In addition, I starred as a humorous character for Korea Telecom, which gained me a lot of popularity,” said Park.

The Image Consultant Education Course is offered on Saturdays throughout the semester for 15 weeks. Applications are on a first-come-first-served basis at the beginning of the semester. Successful Image Making is on Thursdays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. so that students can take the course after all their regular school courses are all over. It also lasts 15 weeks. “The seats for the course are filled very quickly; it attracts a tremendous amount of public interest,” said Kim.

For students who are hesitant to take one of his courses due to time or cost, Kim recommends his two books: “A Genuinely Good Image For Developing Leadership” (2005), and “Theory And Practice Of Image Making” (2008). “Conveying an appealing image to the hundreds of other people who you meet throughout your life is the basis for success. An attractive image will also be advantageous to help you develop the human network that delivers you to the threshold of success,” said Kim.

Besides Kim’s books, other popular books on image building are also available. The three most popular books, according to Twenty Most Rented Books provided by Ewha Central Library, are “Don't Eat The Marshmallow Yet!: The Secret To Sweet Success In Work And Life” by Joachim de Posada; “Why Men Love Bitches” by Sherry Argov; and “Winning Habits” written by Cheon Ok-pyo. Three more popular titles on the list are “Fifty Secrets That Companies Do Not Tell You” by Cynthia Shapiro; “Secretary Way” by Cho Kwan-il; and “Born As A Woman Picking Up The Stars At Conglomerates” by Lee Tak-keum.