Recruiting is a busy gig. There’s a lot going on everyday—from intake calls, to phone screens, to offers, not to mention all the note taking and documenting in between. With goals to think about and reqs to fill, who has time for building a personal brand by posting to social media?
At least, that’s the typical recruiter mentality.
The fact of the matter is, not only does building a personal brand for yourself only take up an hour or so per week, it also makes your job as a recruiter much easier. When you build a brand as a recruiter, you bring in attention from candidates and referral sources (after all, the whole point of social media is to build a *network*)—that means down the road, when you’re doing the sourcing grind, you have helped yourself by opening up the top level of that recruiting pipeline.
But sometimes, even when recruiters are understanding of how important building a personal brand can be and are willing to put the time and effort into it, they become stumped when it comes time to actually do it. After all, you’re not a social media specialist—so how do you know what is good to post and what isn’t? If you’re in this camp, and even if you’re in the camp that doesn’t quite get it, let me illustrate for you how easy it can be to build a personal recruiting brand—all you need to do is start sharing these four different types of content to your social media feeds:
This is a recruiter’s hook to building an audience. It shows you know what’s what in the biz, and also that you’re the type of recruiter who wants to fill the req, not just for the sake of it, but to help the candidate find a job. The internet is teeming with articles on tips for how to succeed in job interviews, on resumes, and on job applications. Make candidates want to follow you by becoming a valuable resource for them when you fill your feeds with info that helps them.
Bottom line is you’re trying to get candidates to apply for jobs, so obviously posting job applications need to be a part of your branding strategy. The part where recruiters fail at personal branding is when all they share are job postings. But as long as you balance out your social feeds with the other content listed here, posting any and all job applications of the reqs you’re working on will be successful. Candidates will know you’re legit and be more likely to follow you so they can catch that perfect opportunity you post.
Now we’re getting into unfamiliar territory. Let’s be clear first—when I say employer branding, here’s what I mean: careers-related content from the company you’re recruiting for. Any videos, Q&As, or day-in-the-life stories that feature real employees already in the culture or positions you’re recruiting for is grade A content to bring candidates in to apply. You’re showing off the work that is already done, and saying, “See how great this job would be for you? Don’t you want to work here?” The better the company you’re recruiting for comes off and the more you share that content, the more likely candidates will be to apply to the jobs you’re posting.
All of the above content is great and it helps you stand out from even the majority of the crowd. One final thing that will take your personal brand to the next level is adding that “personal” touch. I recommend doing this through sharing stories of your recruiting experiences. Remaining anonymous in terms of names and companies to keep yourself out of trouble, share stories of candidates who have got a job you’re trying to fill and what they’ve said their experiences are; share crazy coincidences about making connections with candidates to add your own personality into it; if there’s a time that you were able to help a candidate by going above and beyond, tell others by posting it. Anything that is relevant to candidates that add your own flavor to your social feeds will take your personal brand up a few notches.
Personal branding isn’t hard, but it’s sometimes unnerving to try and start when you don’t know what direction to go in. Try filling up your feeds with the content above and watch your follower counts increase, and reaching your bottom line made easier.