Building a Personal Brand
/Social media recruiting is now a tactic employed by recruiters across companies. The practice involves attracting, engaging, and hiring active and passive candidates across social networks, professional and otherwise. Social media in this context can be construed as LinkedIn, a personal website or even an online portfolio. Building a personal brand can arguably be considered as crucial to be noticed and can provide significant value while switching jobs or careers.
In 2018, US hiring managers and human resource professionals attributed effective social media playing a significant role in extending an offer to a candidate[i]. Social media can be used to portray background information supporting professional qualifications, creativity, professional image and a wide range of interests. This goes beyond the traditional professional overview that platforms such as LinkedIn provide.
A Jobvite survey showed that 60% of companies estimate the annual return on investment for recruiting a single hire via social media to be $20,000 per year, while 20% estimated returns to be in the range of $90,000[ii]. This highlights the natural swing towards social media platforms being used by recruiters to both attract and connect with potential talent.
So what are the core components that need to be incorporated into building a personal brand on social media during a career search? Read on to find out.
Authenticity
When defining a personal brand on social media, its vital that you do not stray from who you are as a person. Project an authentic version of yourself that shares your values, perspectives, and ideas. While it may be appealing to portray an alternate version of yourself, misleading people can often have the opposite effect.
Brevity
While it is fun to write about topics that you are passionate about, its equally important to keep it concise; stating a fact followed by an opinion or perspective. Rambling posts though give you more space on social media, but you will find people rapidly losing interest with the absence of brevity in your content.
Visual
According to the Picture Superiority Effect, people recall only 10% of audible information three days after while 65% recall the same information with an associated image. The utilization of pictures, videos, and illustrations will help people not only recall you but your perspective on specific information as well.
Consistency
A consistent viewpoint is key. It helps build your personal brand and sets expectations from people who are your social media followers. Further, that same consistency should flow over into your brand voice, image, and tone. Variations may not really be appreciated and could damage your brand in the long-term.
Perspective
While sharing relevant articles and posts is great to stay top of mind with people with similar interests, it is vital to add your perspective on anything shared by you on social media. Having an opinion elevates a brand and encourages people to engage with your perspective, opening new communication channels.
Focus
Posts on social media should be kept close to your area of passion and expertise. This helps to establish credibility in a function or vertical. In addition, it plays to your strengths and encourages all posts and content authentic and true to yourself.
Regularity
Sporadic social media presence does not help your brand. Once a day, once week or once every two weeks – the gaps between your social media posts need to be regular. People will begin to expect your posts and will very quickly lose interest if you do not meet their time expectations, impacting your social media presence.
Social
The whole purpose of social media is to be…social. Connect with people and join groups to promote yourself in circles transcending industries and functions. Building a brand is fun, and when that brand is yourself, there truly are no limits. It is also a great way to get feedback on how to better promote oneself.
Sources:
[i] Online Recruiting and Social Media, Statista Report, November 2019
https://www.statista.com/topics/2727/online-recruiting/
[ii] Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey, 2013
http://web.jobvite.com/rs/jobvite/images/Jobvite_SocialRecruiting2013.pdf