It is difficult to stand out from your competition as a recruiter or sourcer. We are continually being asked to be creative, be strategic, and connect authentically. Most understand this task. However, there are still some that think; if I spam everyone with a template-based message, someone will respond. We, as an industry should know better. However, this article isn’t about “spamming talent.”
This is about taking five minutes to build your authentic self and develop your brand. We spend our days connecting with talent, managing job descriptions, meeting with our business partners, and more importantly offering a high-quality experience to the candidates we have in the process. It’s easy to put our brand on the back-burner because most think it’s a lot of work, of course, I smile.
Seriously. The time you spend sending emails, you can take that five minutes to do the same for your brand, especially if you want to stand out. I am going to share different ways that you can work on your brand by setting just five minutes aside every day.
Tweet something creatively and valuable to those who you are trying to attract. One of the easiest ways to build your brand and make a name for yourself is investing in Twitter. It’s not going away; it’s an excellent tool if you create a fun account. Think about who you want to attract, communities that you want to know more about, follow subject matter experts that you can learn from and engage.
Maybe posting on social media isn’t your thing. If you’re a recruiter and you’re not active on Twitter, you’re missing a fantastic opportunity to interact with millions of users. If you commit to two tweets a day, you’ll quickly see your followers grow, and with that growth comes social charge. You should try to tweet as much as you can about your day, events, and company activities. Which really shouldn’t be too hard – after all, you are an expert on our goals and knowledge.
One of the easiest ways to build your brand on Twitter is to post something of value. You can provide answers to questions that individuals who may want to know what to expect when interviewing at your company? Why not take the time and share a tip about resume writing or improving their LinkedIn profile. This is an opportunity for you to take a platform (free) and own it!
However, make sure whatever you post, it contains useful information. DO NOT; I repeat DO NOT post actual job listings. You’ll lose your followers. Twitter is a tool to share, have conversations, and gain knowledge. Don’t be abuse what could be some fruitful relationships.
Are your social accounts up to date? Some of us forget back in the hay-days of these social sites started, and we went “hog-wild” on creating accounts, so think about how many online profiles do you have? You will be amazed by how fast we forget those profiles, and it could be confusing to those who engage on social sites on who is the real you.
Making sure that your online profiles are up to date isn’t something that needs to be done every day. But every couple of weeks make sure that you glance over your social profiles and do a mini-audit. Ideally, creating specific photos should be used across all your accounts. This will help immensely as you build your account. Remember, personal branding is all about consistency!
One of the fastest and easiest ways to build is complimenting those you follow by ‘like’ or ‘share’ an article on LinkedIn or any other sites. Not only you are helping the author, but you are becoming visible to all those who follow that individual, including that individual.
When you ‘like’ an update on LinkedIn, it’s just like sharing a post on Facebook, in that your entire network will be able to see it. This is an excellent way to build your brand, as it shows that you know about what’s happening in your industry. It just takes a couple of minutes scrolling through your newsfeed to like and comment on the content with what provoked you.
But there’s a catch, of course, there is. Before you ‘like’ or comment on an article, you need actually to read it! Come on, now you know that is true. Your brand isn’t just about keeping up appearances. Building a brand for yourself, one that will make candidates trust you and other professionals respect you, you need to be educating yourself continuously.
So take two minutes actually to sit down and soak up an article every day. Remember, it’s all about value, so you need to know that what you are sharing to your network is worth sharing! I would take further and post to provoke conversation, etc. It’s pretty powerful.
Just like other platforms, Instagram is an excellent platform for building your brand. This platform is worth a little more effort than other sites. You have an opportunity to tell stories with your camera and post original content. Once you start actively posting images that represent who you are as both professionally and personally, it will quickly become part of your daily routine. Plus, IT’S SO MUCH FUN!
What’s so great about personal branding on the Instagram platform, it gives you a chance to show a fun, human side of who you are. And don’t sweat it – you can still be on Instagram without giving away too many details about yourself.
If a candidate is scrolling through my Instagram and they’re also a fan of art, animals, camping, etc., it’s an instant commonality that we share. They are more likely to engage with me because of that. That in itself is personal branding, without professional camera skills, or extended detailed captions. And it works well with our human side.
The whole purpose of this article and what I will be speaking about is connecting, discovering a new connection. It’s so easy to go on relationship frenzies when you’re seeking out prospects. You should be spending a couple of minutes a day connecting with someone new that is not a candidate, such as a leader in our industry, or an old colleague.
Remember, referrals come in all shapes and are the number one way to build robust pipelines. The more connections you have in your social networks, the more people actively see your updates in their newsfeeds. Remember, this is also elevating your brand, which in return will grow it.
When you’re talking about your company, job, etc. to individuals, get into the habit of the positive parts of the situation, even if it’s something as simple as talking about meeting with a new employee. This is yet, another way your branding goes beyond the laptop screen, so the people who are closest to you know what you’re all about professionally and of course personally!