Question:
I understand the importance of branding and social networking; however, what I find difficult to understand is that any recruiter or C-level hiring manager can fully grasp a candidate’s brand through an online presence. I could be wrong, but in my opinion it is the recruiters who need to fall in love with a candidate’s brand because the hiring companies have their trust. How do we build our brand with recruiters?
Jose Ruiz:
There are three key things that must be considered:
Branding, by definition, is the creation of an identity for a particular product. You build your product and your brand through every element of your personal and professional experience. What you do with social media is present and promotes the brand, but the key lies with you – your product.
What you do online and with social media will help attract the attention of executive recruiters. It is part of the initial selling point that should get you in the door. By no means will an online profile replace the evaluation process that will help a recruiter identify if you are the right fit for a particular position or a specific organization.
In direct response to the question, it starts with having an online profile that will provide visibility for executive recruiters to find you, but you will need to build a relationship in order to build your brand WITH them. Nothing can take the place of the relationship. Going back to the brand-product analogy: The recruiter needs to know, understand and, as you say, love the product to help you brand it for a specific client and a particular position. You do not achieve this by just sending a résumé, selling yourself and calling every month to see if a position is available. It is built on valuable interaction regarding trends and issues that affect the disciplines and industries that you work in helping the recruiter stay on top of what is happening in that space. This level of interaction helps you and the recruiter build knowledge and expertise making the relationship valuable for both beyond the specific transaction of a single job opportunity.
About Alder Koten
Alder Koten helps shape organizations through a combination of research, executive search, cultural & leadership assessment, and other talent advisory services. Our recruiters and executive search consultants bring to the recruiting process an in-depth understanding of the market conditions and strategic talent issues faced by clients within their particular industry. Our leadership consultants provide advisory services that are crafted to be collaborative, responsive, pragmatic, and results oriented. Focused on expanding the capabilities of the organization through talent.
