60 Percent Visibility: Does LinkedIn Count More Than Grades?

Personal branding expert Silvia Wurzer recently visited the HOK | University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol and introduced students to the world of digital visibility. In a keynote address for both full-time and part-time students in the Bachelor's program in Marketing & Communication Management, she explained why a personal brand is far more than mere self-promotion. She was invited by Stephanie Kogler, PhD, as part of the Online Marketing course.

Silvia Wurzer knows what she's talking about: As the founder of "The 2025 Club®," she brings over ten years of experience in the B2B and Big Tech sectors, including stints at Meta, Zoom, and Pinterest. She has reinvented her career path several times and seized opportunities as soon as they arose. The fact that major technology companies approached her directly via LinkedIn is a testament to her consistent and authentic digital presence.

VISIBILITY INSTEAD OF SELF-PRACTICE

Many people initially associate the term personal branding with mere self-promotion. In a survey of students, more than half shared this view, while only about a third saw it as a tool for their own career. For Wurzer, this is based on a misunderstanding – and this is where her first conviction comes in: A personal brand doesn't mean putting yourself in the foreground, but rather making your own skills, ideas, and story visible. She illustrated that visibility is not merely an add-on using the PIE model developed by organizational researcher Harvey Coleman. According to this model, only 10 percent of career advancement is due to pure performance, 30 percent to image, and 60 percent to visibility.

AUTHENTICITY AND DETOURS AS STRENGTHS

Closely related to this is a second conviction of the expert: A successful career doesn't have to follow a straight path. Stays abroad, career changes, side projects, or the move to self-employment are not breaks in a resume. They can become a decisive advantage, as they demonstrate openness and courage. According to Wurzer, opportunities today often arise not through traditional applications, but through being visible and discoverable on LinkedIn.

A compelling personal brand isn't created solely through qualifications, but above all through an authentic and coherent overall picture. Individual experiences can enrich a profile and make it unique. The crucial thing is to contextualize these experiences comprehensibly and communicate them credibly. Authenticity becomes particularly evident when people regularly share their learning journey, interests, and professional development over an extended period.

FROM PROFILE TO PLAN: CONCRETE STEPS

Wurzer demonstrated to the students how this consistency can be put into practice using LinkedIn. She views the network not as a digital resume, but as a personal landing page – with a clear headline, professional photo, compelling banner image, and a concise one-sentence positioning statement. For regular posts, she recommends the 70-20-10 mix of personal stories, professional value proposition, and social media evidence of one's competence.

The aspiring marketing professionals took away the key takeaway that visibility can be built early and with small, consistent steps, rather than leaving it to chance. A concrete approach is offered by the 30-Day Personal Branding Sprint: Approximately 30 minutes per week is sufficient to sharpen one's positioning, optimize the profile, and publish initial posts. With practical insights and immediately applicable tools, Silvia Wurzer's guest lecture provided students with valuable impetus for a visible and self-determined professional career.

Links:

• Marketing & Communication Management | ft
• Our New Brand – HOK | University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol