It's Our 3rd Birthday!

Have you seen the film? If not, it's the story of a social studies teacher who gives an assignment to his junior high school class to think of an idea to change the world for the better, then put it into action. When one young student creates a plan for "paying forward" favors, he not only affects the life of his struggling single mother, but he sets in motion an unprecedented wave of human kindness which, unbeknownst to him, has blossomed into a profound national phenomenon.

Here are some ways how we as recruitment professionals can practice human kindness alongside running a business:

• Offer connections to candidates or clients that will help them
• Help and communicate kindly with candidates that you know you won't be able to place
• Advise a candidate to take a job if you believe it's the right one for them, even if it's not through you
• Offer advice to clients on how to write a job desciption or just do it for them
• Re-write a CV and give feedback even if you know you can't help the candidate
• Take and return calls, always

There are hundreds of ways we can impact lives around us when we communicate with so many on a daily basis.

If you haven't seen the film give it a go!

Having a personal brand is not solely for entrepreneurs or CEOs on keynote panels anymore - it’s for anyone working in recruitment that works in a vertical sector or indeed any professional industry thanks to a little thing we like to call the internet. Whether you meet someone at a client visit, networking event or even just through friends, likely the first thing they will do is look you up online to see what you’re about.

By curating your online brand with intent, it can distinguish you from the masses while ensuring that you are marketing yourself to the highest standard, which, will inevitably create MORE opportunities for yourself. This will in turn mean more opportunities for your candidates, more value to add to your clients and more opportunity to be recommended.

Consider Yourself As a Brand

If I were to say Apple or Coca Cola, it is very easy to conjure up adjectives on what these brands stand for. Apple has built its brand around counterculture, youthfulness and creativity and Coca Cola has become a household name with any number of positive attributes. What do you want your brand to say about you? If someone in your business network were to recommend you to another person, whether it was a potential candidate or client, how would you want them to describe you? Standing out as an expert on a particular topic can be beneficial to your personal brand so be sure to put yourself out there as a thought leader. Just be sure that whatever knowledge you are offering is coming from a place of authenticity and with the intent of helping other people. That alone will magnetize curiosity and industry respect.

Share With Purpose

With LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and the many other social networks we keep up with there can be a pressure to get involved in conversations and share something for the sake of visibility online. It’s important to remember that quality reigns over quantity. When it comes to your online brand, you want to be aware that with every Like, Share and Retweet you are marketing your personal brand and endorsing others. Focus your content choices around a purpose instead of mindlessly sharing articles. Endorse others in your network if they share something great and build on their ideas to create a forum of discussion that is beyond the idle chatter on the internet. Aim for impact to both your network and your business.

Audit Yourself

Google your name. Do you like what you see? If you are buried within other results with people who share the same name, you need to get to work quickly. You can engage an SEO service or even add a middle name so that you are unique. Signing up for a Google+ account alone will increase your ranking, especially if it is filled out fully including links to other profiles and professionally relevant search words. You will also want to search for any feedback that has been posted online about you so that you are well aware of your online reputation and remedy / promote it accordingly. By showing that you rank highly in a Google search shows that you are savvy and competent which means good things for your personal brand online and offline.

By taking your personal brand into your own hands online you will feel more confident about your business, your reputation and it is our sincere hope that it attracts many new opportunities as well!

If you are thinking of a change of job and how to make that change, as recruiting professionals your instinct may be to conduct your own job hunt. However there are some great reasons to work with a recruitment to recruitment firm - after all we are specialised in the market and have a deep knowledge base that is invaluable to the recruitment industry. So your preconceptions might deserve a second look - and here are some thoughts to ponder on…..

Preconception: I know the places I should be applying

We all know the usual suspect firms that are perpetually hiring and it can be tempting to make this your first stop when hunting for a new workplace. They have a rolling list of vacancies and will reply expediently when they are interested in your profile. These are also the firms that will poach you directly; which means you don’t have to do much heavy lifting to get your foot in the door.

Reality: Equally desirable/if not more desirable boutique agencies often fly low on the radar

Big corporate firms aren’t always the answer. While the pay and large corporate benefits can be magnetizing there can be advantages to some of the smaller boutiques that you might not have considered. As specialist recruiters to recruiters, we will have a better understanding of the niches and nuances of the smaller firm. Hey, it’s not your fault that you haven’t heard of them! They often spend less on marketing so they can offer their employees optimal working conditions.

Preconception: I have heaps of connections that I can tap into on my own

We are in the business of networking with recruitment firms so our prized possession is our LinkedIn network or cloud-based rolodex kept handy for placing candidates. We often hear about opportunities that are not advertised and/or exclusive to us. In order to really have visibility of what the opportunities are, talk to us, to hear what could be on offer!

Reality: Matching ourselves to a client doesn’t always go as we planned

Having an in depth understanding of each clients business strategy gives a recruitment to recruitment firm the opportunity to plan with them for future hires. A strong client relationship will mean that a deep understanding is fostered and a partnership approach to achieve their hiring and growth goals. Some of the roles and strategies that we work together on include offering equity to candidates!

Engaging a recruiter means that they can qualify the potential fit using insightful systems that aren’t invasive or overly revealing. If you would still prefer to rely on your connection to a firm, you can often negotiate with your agent about any pre-existing relationships in advance.

Preconception: Recruiters aren’t trustworthy

Correction BAD recruiters aren’t trustworthy and only care about their fee. We’ve all come across a recruiter who gives the rest of us a bad rap. Maybe we should have pre-empted this blog with the distinction that who you select to represent your professional goals should be well regarded by peers and clients. Not all recruiters are created equally but don’t let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch.

Reality: Data has become a highly sensitive topic; one that most firms are taking very seriously to ensure your search is safe

The right recruiter can offer a professional service that is both valuable and well intentioned. With recent discussion and concern around candidate privacy and the ethics of sharing data, this could make this era one of the safest times to engage a third party firm.

Preconception: It’s a waste of time

We are busy people and we get that time is money, honey! Setting up a scheduled appointment with a person who can’t technically guarantee you anything, goes against recruiter instincts. We tend to prefer return on our investment and if we’re going to schmooze over brunch or a coffee, it can seem best with a candidate or client.

Reality: It can be a time saver when you’re trying to run your day-to-day desk

That same busyness can be the cause for slip-ups when you’re running a job search and a busy desk. By placing your search in the good and able hands of a professional recruitment recruiter that you trust, you ease this risk and gain more time to focus on filling roles at your current firm.

These points are simply a starting point meant to give you something to consider the next time you are presented with the opportunity to work with a recruiter. Even as a passive candidate, we hope that you will challenge any preconceived notions about the value of recruiters for recruiters.