The world of recruiting has never been so competitive, clients and candidates alike will form their opinion of you from a quick Google search before even meeting you. So investing your time into your own personal brand is the smartest career move you can make right now.
First things first, if you're wondering why this even matters, well, whether you're building your business, on the job hunt or feel like you've hit a dead-end, trust us when we say that working on your personal brand will help your business brand alongside.
The truth is that you probably already have a personal brand. If you have a LinkedIn profile, then congratulations, your first step to having a professional voice has already been done. But the real question is, how do you build that personal brand into something huge?
Don't worry. Video production specialists, Standby Productions, who work alongside CEOs and business execs on building their visual personal brand on a regular basis, are here to help. Let's get started.
1. Start now - Don't wait for the opportunity to magically present itself. There's no point putting off building your brand as it's not going to happen overnight, so you may as well get as much of a head start as possible. The following points will help you get going, so even if you're stuck, you won't be for long. Having a personal brand, especially in today's competitive market, is essential for a long and successful career, so get going!
2. Have values - And stick to them, of course. But don't forget to enjoy yourself along the way. At the end of the day, your values – and the actions you take on the back of those – are a huge part of who you are, both personally and professionally. Take some time to think about what values you hold most dear; what defines you? What is truly important to you? Once you have a list (not too long, mind you) prioritize them according to which you hold in the highest regard. Simon Owen, Managing Director of Standby Productions, weighs in here: "If you enjoy what you do, the clients enjoy working with you and you enjoy coming into work every day. And that becomes the culture."
3. Find your niche - What is it that sets you apart from your biggest competitors? Why should a client choose you over them? Having a niche in mind helps your values and your personal brand stick. Have a think about some of the most well-known personal brands in the world and consider what makes them memorable. Oprah may have hosted one of the most successful talk shows on television, but her brand was built on her innate ability to empathize. Steve Jobs is famous for Apple, but his niche was as a visionary for new technology. So what helps you stand out?
4. Be passionate - If you're an employee and you don't love what you do, it's pretty evident to those around you. Well, imagine how clear it is if you're in charge. Look at the cosmetics company, Lush. Each of their staff members absolutely adores the store, its products and everything the business stands for. Now take a look at the Instagram of their co-founder Mark Constantine; the pictures are filled to the brim with products and pictures with the staff. That is a guy who loves what he does and what he's built. So be more like Mark. Rediscover your passion for your industry, why did you take this career path in the first place? Find the things that make you want to get up every morning and do a fantastic job, and then let that shine through everything you do.
5. Put yourself out there - In today's digital world, crafting and maintaining a personal brand is pretty much impossible without the use of content marketing, PR and social media. But putting yourself out there online is so much more than sending a few tweets every now and then. It's important that you position yourself as an expert in your field. People need to view you as the go-to person for any and all questions regarding your industry, and that doesn't come without hard work at getting your name in front of people. You need to be writing and speaking about issues that are at the forefront of your field. Have a personal or company blog where you write thought-leadership posts, secure speaking engagements and industry conferences, contribute to articles for big publications, or host a webinar or training session, or produce videos that focus on the latest trends and challenges that are emerging. Did you know that video on social platforms is on the rise? Almost two out of three (61%) marketers plan to use video content on these channels in 2019, up from 55% the previous year. But make sure that the content you're producing mirrors your brand, so be as professional as possible, if that warrants a professional crew, get them in!
Next, use social media to get these efforts in front of as many people as possible. Have a LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook account at the very least, maybe even an Instagram. Promote everything you write across all your channels and engage with other peoples' posts – comment, don't just like – and you'll slowly start to see your numbers creep up. Remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint. But that's not enough. Simon says it's also important for you to trust in yourself before you expect others to: "Having self-belief in your own visions, if it feels strong and right, people will want to listen to you. If you don't believe in yourself and your own brand it's very hard to build that trust within your sector."
6. Keep it going and adapt along the way - Building a successful personal brand isn't going to happen overnight. And it's not going to benefit from a couple of weeks of sustained effort and then no activity for weeks. Personal brands fail for many reasons, but we guarantee that one of the most common is because people don't keep it up. Be consistent. Post regularly and keep generating content. Even if you don't hear from a journalist after writing a comment, don't give up. Keep reaching out and getting your name out there. Even if it takes 100 rejections, as long as you keep using your industry knowledge and writing coherently, you'll start to build yourself a strong reputation.
One final word from Simon: "Adapt your creativity as a technician at the front-end to becoming creative as a business owner. This transition to thinking about delivering business concepts will help open your mind-set to success"
About the author: Megan Crehan, content manager of The Audit Lab, started her copywriting career after graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in Broadcast Journalism, and jumped headfirst into the world of digital marketing.
Article from the Undercover Recruiter
You might think all a recruiter does is send you a string of candidates to interview. It's true plenty of recruiters do just that, but the best ones go much further.
Whether they're selling your position to passive candidates, helping your team avoid bad hires, or even taking care of your full hiring process, the right recruiter can offer major benefits to you and your company. Let's take a look at some of the ways great recruiters go above and beyond for their clients:
1. Great Recruiters Sell the Position
A good recruiter's mission is to bring every client the right hire for their position. When a new job lands on their radar, the first thing a recruiter worries about is fully understanding exactly what the position is and what the right candidate needs to fill it.
Recruiting is a sales job. The best candidates on the market can get jobs wherever and whenever they want. Recruiters get to know your role in depth in order to position themselves to sell your job to the best candidates in the market. As the recruiter probes into your job further, you may even find the conversation helps you get to know your own open roles even better.
Every position is unique. Each requires different personality traits, core competencies, responsibilities, and cultural fit from a successful candidate. As your recruiter gathers information to sell the role, they're also gathering information about what the right candidate will look like. This way, the recruiter can sell the right role to the right people.
2. Great Recruiters Expand Your Talent Pool
Hiring is about bringing in the right person for the job, but it's all too easy for hiring teams to get hung up on finding a candidate who ticks every single box — someone who has the right degree, the perfect amount of experience, and the right set of skills at exactly the right level.
Sometimes those things truly are nonnegotiable, but more often than not, the hiring team is passing over great candidates in search of an ideal applicant who doesn't even exist.
For more expert recruiting insights, check out the latest issue of Recruiter.com Magazine:
You might not like the sound of this very much, but look at it this way: Is it better to hire a candidate who fits all the requirements perfectly but leaves in three months or a candidate who needs a bit of training up front but stays with the company for 10 years?
Great recruiters can help you expand your talent pool to reach all of those great candidates you may not have considered on your own.
3. Great Recruiters Win Over Passive Candidates
Candidates are either "active" or "passive." Active candidates are actively looking for new jobs, because they're either out of work or unsatisfied with their current role. Passive candidates are just the opposite. They're satisfied with their current jobs and not actively looking for new offers. They might be interested in a better offer if it comes along, but they're not going out of their way to find such opportunities.
The vast majority of applications a company receives come from active candidates, but here's the thing: Active candidates are usually active for a reason. Passive candidates, on the other hand, tend to be solid performers who are valued by their companies. That's why they have no motivation to enter the job market.
Connecting with passive candidates and getting them to consider your role can be a major challenge, but good recruiters have a lot of experience with sourcing and selling passive candidates. This allows you to tap one of the most powerful segments of the talent market, which is usually off limits.
4. Great Recruiters Give You the Facts You Need to Make the Right Hire
Plenty of hiring teams make their hiring decisions based on gut feelings. This can be a serious problem. Bad candidates can make great impressions in interviews, while great candidates can have off days and make lackluster showings. Just because a candidate is a smooth talker doesn't necessarily mean they can do the job well. Just because a candidate is soft-spoken or nervous during an interview doesn't mean they won't excel in your role. The point here is this: It is important to make the hiring process more objective than it normally is, and great recruiters specialize in building systems which do just that. Recruiters are invested in getting the right person for the role, so they take steps to prevent themselves from being swayed by charm alone. Instead, they use objective methods of assessing and ranking candidates to zero in on the right choice.
A good recruiter should do more than just send you extra resumes. They should partner with you to bring the right candidate to the role no matter what. Hiring can be a tough process; don't hesitate to get some outside help.
Article from The Recruiter
