О личном бренде для рекрутера - как, где и зачем?

The concept of a "personal brand" first emerged in the marketing lexicon in 1897 in the works of Tom Peters, an American management practices author. This term gained more prominence at a time when products or services from different manufacturers had no distinct technical differences. When all products performed the same function and didn't significantly stand out from each other, how could a castomer decide which one to choose? That's when marketers decided to emphasize that a product or service should evoke positive associations in a person's mind, leading them to prefer their service over competitors'.

Later on, the culture of personal branding extended far beyond products — now, personal branding is not only sought after by recruitment companies but also by individual professionals. Recruitment is no exception, so now we will explore how a recruiter can develop their personal brand and the advantages it can bring. Special thanks to Yuliia Havriyliuk — Sourcing Lead at Don’t Panic Recruiting Agency for providing valuable material and information for the article.

Why do you need a personal brand?

For many professionals, the fact that building a personal brand is a long game might be discouraging. You won't see immediate results in the first week, and probably not even in the first month. Yes, it will require your resources and time, especially if you've chosen to undertake this on your own. However, in the end, a professional who develops a personal brand will gain the following advantages:

1. Recognition: First and foremost, you'll become recognizable. By "recognizable," we mean that candidates are more likely to have heard about you, your recruitment agency, or the company you work for. They will proactively follow the new vacancies you publish, which speeds up the employee hiring process.

2. Expanded Networking: With a personal brand, you'll find it quicker and easier to connect with colleagues, exchange experiences, or candidate profiles.

3. Professional Growth: You'll engage with new information daily, read more, and delve into relevant topics, all of which positively impact your professionalism.

4. Most importantly, your personal brand will always be with you, no matter where you are or which company you work for. An established profile and network for an IT recruiter can sometimes say more about you than a resume.

Where to Start

In most cases, professionals are already building their personal brand without even realizing it. This happens with each new post on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram (if it's related to professional topics), when you publish job vacancies, and even when you respond to candidates. Here are a few simple tips to start developing your personal brand if you've never done it before:

1. Embrace the fact that you won't see immediate results. So, don't despair if you don't start getting a million likes in the first week.

2. Aim to post twice a week for a month. This algorithm will help you form a habit and attract your initial audience.

3. Jot down ideas for future content. Whenever an idea strikes, open a notepad or notes app. Use these notes when writing posts.

4. Read books and news channels. Stay updated with fresh information in the recruitment field. This helps you form your perspective, stay informed, and be a "trailblazer" for your followers.

5. Pay attention to interactions with candidates. Sometimes, personnel recruitment can provide a lot of interesting information that you can then share with colleagues as your own experience.

Your main task at the beginning of building your personal brand is to develop the habit of creating content. Many people discard this idea during the "getting used to" phase of writing articles. Therefore, for three weeks, make an effort to prepare yourself to generate new ideas for posts.

Which platforms to use?

You can use any social media platforms you're familiar with. Ideally, you'd dedicate time to each available platform. For instance, creating podcasts on YouTube, writing news updates on Telegram, or even producing themed videos on TikTok with a light-hearted touch.

Of course, at the beginning of building your personal brand, we recommend focusing primarily on LinkedIn since it's a key tool for a headhunter. Through this platform, you can quickly gather an audience of colleagues and candidates, and easily share your professional opinions and achievements. So, here are a few step-by-step tips to make your profile more comprehensive:

1. Fill out your profile completely. Check all the fields that are left blank and add information.

2. Write and publish posts regularly. Pay attention to the type of photos you choose for your posts on different platforms. For example, on LinkedIn, it's better to use personal photos with pets, children, or just yourself (but definitely not the "look how good I look" type).

3. Like posts and comments. Show activity by giving simple likes to your colleagues' posts.

4. Leave detailed comments. Share your perspective in the comments under other users' posts.

5. Engage in private messaging. Consistently responding to all messages will attract LinkedIn's attention, and it will show your profile to others more frequently.

6. Always reply to comments on your posts. Simple responses will help build loyalty within your audience.

Remember, building a personal brand takes time, so be patient and consistent in your efforts across platforms.

What to post?

The fear of a blank page often stops many people from starting to write posts. Don't let the unknown intimidate you. There are plenty of ideas that even a beginner can explore. To begin, decide on the type of post you'd like to have in the end.

1. Storytelling Post: Introduce yourself and share your experience. Write about how you entered this field, share your first fail or, conversely, successful cases. Such stories are interesting to both candidates and your colleagues.

2. Expertise Post: Share your experience, describe how you work, the tools you use, and the platforms you're active on. Don't hesitate to explain how you do things, as your honesty might enlighten others.

3. Poll Post: Use polls to gather useful statistics and engage with your audience. Interactive content like polls often attracts users' attention.

4. Help Post: If you feel the need to help someone with their job search, why not publish a post about it? You can also post about your search for IT specialists for a charitable project.

5. Video Post: Try to capture your audience's interest by being creative with videos. Granted, filming, editing, and post-production might take more time than writing a post, but videos often have a more attractive presentation than plain text. It can also be a simple video describing a job vacancy or an event announcement.

In summary, your LinkedIn content should be informative and useful. Remember that through your posts, you're communicating with a live audience, and your content should be interesting to read. Here's a tip from an EvoTalents copywriter:

Write informatively but with heart. Your writing style and thoughts will add uniqueness to your content, which will eventually become a part of your personal brand.

Here are a few more tips to make your content feel more organic:

• Don't just repost your opinions. Always supplement a post with your own ideas.
• Use only relevant information related to your field.
• Write correctly.
• Cover a variety of topics.

And one last piece of advice — keep a notebook or notes on your phone, as you never know when a brilliant idea will strike.

If You Need Help

Writing content from scratch can be challenging at the beginning. Even experienced copywriters sometimes encounter issues like creative burnout, not knowing what to write, or where to get ideas. Don't hesitate to use tools that can help make your content more organic and well-structured.

After you start actively managing and developing your profile, be prepared to face different reactions, including hate or negativity. In our "Don't Panic" team, we even celebrate the "first hater," because it means a substantial number of people are reading your content, which is a success.

An important point to remember is that you might have to respond to comments, including those from haters. Be ready for your response to be read not just by the commenter but also by others. So, arm yourself not only with patience but also with emotional resilience and equilibrium. Remember, your dedicated efforts will eventually yield commendable results.