Candidates and clients are becoming increasingly invested in the power of your brand. It’s not enough to rely on your employer, the strength of your database, or your resourcing team.

There’s been so much written on personal brands in recruitment I won’t insult your intelligence by explaining their importance, or what they are.

Let’s just leave it here… you’re going to change jobs at some point in your career. It’s quite likely you might even change careers.

Having a name (or brand in this case) that’s synonymous with quality and trust, isn’t a bad thing to take with you.

The more power you have in your brand, the higher the likelihood you’ll thrive in your next job or career.

Simply, having a brilliant brand will propel your career to heights you never thought possible.

You know the way the world fawns over Keanu Reeves?

Well there’s nothing stopping you being the recruitment verison of that. OK, I might be gilding the lily a touch. You might not produce the same warm fuzzy feeling in the hearts of everyone you meet.

But you can have more power. And here’s how to get it.

Take your offline chatter, online

As you’re a recruiter I’m going to guess a fair amount of people in your market already know who you are.

You’ll probably make a lot of phone calls and have a ton of email conversations?

When you call up candidates and clients, you almost certainly introduce yourself by your first name and get stuck in.

You offer advice.

You solve problems.

You give answers to difficult questions.

Here’s a few bombshells…

More than the one person you’re speaking to would benefit from those answers.

Your advice is useful to a wider audience.

And the problems you solve are common for many.

So start publishing this gold on LinkedIn. Share your knowledge. And go and respond to other people’s posts too.

You know that dopamine hit you get when someone comments on your LinkedIn update? Other people get that too. So by commenting regularly you’ll win allies.

If you’re smart, those allies will be people who hire in your market.

Keep going

If you play a sport, there’s probably an element of competition that keeps you interested. But for many sports players, a common theme is self competition. The idea you’ll be better today than you were yesterday.

The premise is, you’re only ever competing with yourself.

True of many sports.

Also true of trying to grow your personal brand. You’re never competing with others on the internet. It might seem like that at times.

But they haven’t got the same background. They’re not the same person. They don’t work in the same conditions. They don’t have the same face. Or personality.

So why compare?

If you get a post that resonates, keep a note of the topic and come back to it. But keep trying others. Keep sharing advice for free on subjects you know inside out.

But don’t be afraid to show your personality. And write like a human. Not a Finance e-book. People like character. So show yours. Share your opinions and information about yourself. It’ll be daunting at first. But the good news is, it is for everyone.

If you try and be better today than you were yesterday at engaging with those online, you’ll find yourself improving and gradually increasing engagement.

You’ll win friends, and those friends will eventually do business with you.

How long does this stuff take?

Ages.

Honestly.

But a lot depends on how strong your brand is now.

If you’re starting from scratch and you don’t have many followers, it could take months, if not years to build a following and have business come your way.

But, would you expect anything else?

Did you expect to be an expert in recruitment on your first day? OK, bad example, you might’ve done. But you weren’t.

It took time and consistent effort. And the same can be said for building your brand online. But it will pay off.

What should I post about?

Thought you’d never ask.

The best way to have a constant stream of content is to keep notes. Anything you find interesting, stored in a helpful place.

Top tip though… make it digital. I know recruiters love pen and paper, but that’ll mean writing it twice and therefore double the effort.

Before you know it you’ll have a long list of content ideas. Some might be one word. Some might be paragraphs… doesn’t matter.

Have you solved a client’s problem? Write it down.

Candidate asked a difficult question? In the notes it goes.

Colleague said something funny? It’s getting shared.

You have great chats all day, everyday. Possibly more than most other professions in the world. Your entire job is talking to people.

And so, just the simple action of writing those chats down will mean they’ll work for you as content.

Sounds simple doesn’t it?

That’s cause it is.

Know what else is a no-brainer?

Having awards in recruitment that aren’t simply paid for.

I know… sounds suspicious.

It’s not.

The Sourcr Recruiter of the Year awards are based on real life stats. That we’ve collected (an impartial third party) based on the strength of performance over the course of a year.

You can’t buy your way into these awards, nor can you swing the results based on sponsorship. By our reckoning, that makes them the most honest and real awards in the industry.

Learn more about them here.