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Having a clear and distinct personal brand is one of the best ways to make yourself stand out to recruiters as an active candidate. Much like branding in the business world, a personal “brand” can be defined as the way that you market and present yourself to others around you.
There are many reasons why you might be thinking about building upon your existing online “brand.” You might want to enhance your social status or change the way others perceive you. Our focus today is to help you create a personal brand that makes you visible and then encourages recruiters to reach out you.
The best way to establish your brand and circulate it around the public (including recruiters) is to go digital. Why? Like it or not, we spend most of our time online, whether on our computers, tablets or phones, so you need to focus your energy on creating a great online image. The biggest multinational brands (think Cola-Cola, Apple, Nike) rely on their online channels to make sure that consumers know exactly who they are and what they’re about. You need to be following suit.
Here are the main channels you need to be focusing on:
This online network is by far the most popular method that recruiters will use to both identify and contact you. We’ve covered LinkedIn branding extensively in the past, but here are some basic pointers to get you started:
Use a professional headshot
Publish a detailed, accurate list of your employment history / job responsibilities
Include your contact details (adjust your privacy settings so that recruiters can only view your phone number / email address once they are a first-degree connection)
Include some info to differentiate yourself, like an unusual hobby.
Target your LinkedIn summary at recruiters.
LinkedIn summaries are often overlooked, but you should use this space wisely. It’s a great way to let recruiters know who you are and where you want your career path to lead.
Most people often copy and paste a generic paragraph about the current company they work for. To make your personal brand stand out to recruiters, you should – you guessed it – write about yourself!
Here’s an example of a good summary:
“After having graduated with an Economics degree from the UK, I have pursued my interest in the sales arena by joining a leading multinational retailer as a Business Development Executive. I am a keen traveler with a passion for international business, so I would love to secure a management position in an overseas market.”
Keep it short and snappy. Otherwise, we’ll fall asleep halfway through! You can add other elements such as key skills, achievements, certifications, etc. as well.
Here are some other handy LinkedIn features that you can use to enhance your personal brand on LinkedIn:
Often, it’s the small things that get you noticed!
Other social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. are slightly more gray areas. The extent to which you maintain these networks depend on the industry in which you work. For example, if you’re a digital marketing expert then you’ll want to demonstrate that you’re social media-savvy. In this case, you should maintain and update several social networking platforms. Just adjust your privacy settings so that your personal brand reflects professionalism. If you are a creative, Instagram and dribbble are channels you need to be considering. Work out which are right for you.
You can be sure that all recruiters check out candidates by searching for their social networks via Google. And 90% of the time we find them – after all, it’s basically in our job description to sniff people out! One rule of thumb that you need to follow, regardless of your industry, is only to make information public that presents yourself in a professional light. Make sure your personal updates and opinions are private. We don’t want to know about your obscure political views or what you had for lunch!
Maintaining professional and social networks are pretty much a given nowadays, but you could go the extra mile to make your brand stand out by having a personal website. It’s a fantastic way to demonstrate your work, especially if you’re in a creative industry such as publishing or design. Even blogging about things that are unrelated to your career (travel blogging is a common example) can still be an important part of your brand by making you more memorable to recruiters.
>> Make sure that you provide links to these sites on your LinkedIn profile!
We are well and truly part of the Information Age so, like it or loathe it; the digital sphere is here to stay. Remember that recruiters only see what you want them to see, and it’s your job to get your brand out there so that we can identify and match you with your dream job. If you want some expert help building your personal brand to increase recruiter visibility, then drop us a message: [email protected]
Smart Search Recruitment is Bangkok’s leading executive recruitment consultancy. We serve multinational and local companies, sourcing high-caliber candidates and placing them in mid and senior-level roles. For recruitment service inquiries contact us. We are committed to meet our client’s needs by delivering an exceptional level of service. We have insightful HR resources updated everyday. Please keep in touch with us via our social media.
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