We’ve all heard of employer brand and what that can do for your recruitment efforts but there’s also such a thing as a personal brand.
This week our panel of experts unpick exactly what that means and why future hires should consider having one.
Kerri-Ann Hargreaves
Having a strong personal brand is incredibly important. Be true to yourself. Be sure to represent yourself well on all social platforms. Recruiters and hiring managers will view them and utilise them as a way of building a profile of you. Take control of your personal brand by ensuring you are representing yourself well across all of your social channels. If you don’t wish to be found (and quite possibly judged) then ensure your personal social channels are set to private.
Kerri-Ann Hargreaves, Director, H2 Consultancy.
Jeff Berger
Your personal brand is how you market your talents (i.e. your employability) to companies across multiple mediums: online, on paper, and in person. This involves everything from your resume and cover letter, to your social media profiles, to how you represent yourself at networking events and during interviews. It’s essential to actively manage your online personal brand to ensure it supports – rather than undermines – your job search. Start by Googling your name, as it appears on your resume, to see what employers will find when they search for you and take action from there if necessary.
Jeff Berger, CEO and Founder, Talent Inc.
Lysha Holmes
Your personal brand is who YOU are within your market and how you run YOUR desk accordingly. whether thats through blogs you write, events you organise or attend, tweets you share or job adverts on Linkedin; however their should be a synergy to the company you currently work for and then think ahead to the sort of company you WANT to work for- highlight areas that would appeal to a potential employer whether thats through projects you have championed or even mutual connections. Think about your own personal USP and focus on sharing that.
Lysha Holmes, Recruiter of Recruiters, Qui Recruitment.
Paul Wolfe
Your personal brand is essentially defined by how other people see you. Chances are, people around you already have an opinion about your working style, your approachability and the way you communicate. This is your personal brand. A candidate can control their own personal brand by thinking carefully about how they handle workplace interactions and their social media presence.
Paul Wolfe, Indeed Senior Vice President of Global Human Resources.
Rebecca Fraser
A personal brand, as in a professional product brand, is what you are best recognised for and known for. It is the “image” that you present and the alignment of your skills and capabilities to a specific role or specialisation. As you think coca cola is with coke, your personal brand is the first think that others recognise you for when they hear of your name.
Rebecca Fraser, Career Strategist.
Ben Martinez
A personal brand is just being you. Don’t try to be something or someone, just be you. Recruiters want to know who you are beyond the resume.
Ben Martinez, Principal Founder, Ramp Talent.
Jo Cresswell
A personal brand should convey the perception that an individual wants to come across to professional connections. It will communicate to others what is unique to that person and the image that they want to convey. When it comes to job hunting, a personal brand can be extremely effective in setting that individual apart from other candidates. A personal brand takes months, if not years to cultivate, built upon cumulative work, reputation and creation of social content.
Jo Cresswell, Corporate Communications Manager, Glassdoor.
Darain Faraz
Personal Brand is a phase that gets used a lot, but all it really means is presenting your work and achievements in a way that feels true to you. Rather than worrying about what you feel you should be putting on your LinkedIn profile, use it to show a bit of your personality – while of course keeping it professional.
A good place to start is to think about five or six words that you think your colleagues would use to describe you, and use that as a filter when deciding what to post. For example, if you like to stay on top of industry news, you could share interesting articles, accompanied by a summary of your take on the topic.
Darain Faraz, Careers Expert, LinkedIn.
Allan Leung
Personal branding is how others will define you when you’re not in the room. For candidates, it’s a brand that you build highlighting who you are and what you uniquely have to offer to a prospective employer.
Allan Leung, Lead Talent Acquisition Advisor, HCSS.
Chris Murdock
Your Personal Brand is seen through your LinkedIn profile and other social media platforms. It says what you have done/what you want to do. (try not to be ego-centric or braggy!) Social posts are reflective of a person’s personal brand. They should show the skills, accomplishments, and interests.
Chris Murdock is Senior Partner and Co-Founder at IQTalent Partners
