Personal Branding for a Sourcer

Companies take time to consider their brand; they decide how they want to be seen and what they are known for in the industry. Their brand can uplift them to more monetary success from their product or service awareness or draw in the right type of employees. But, how does this translate to an individual?

Many people consider their company’s brand an extension of their own brand. Some even consider their company’s brand as their only professional brand. However, how can an individual extend their brand past their company– and why should they?

Personal branding as a professional generates awareness, just as company branding does. However, personal branding creates awareness about YOU and your capabilities as an employee. People will begin to know you as “the Boolean Guru” or “the best in the industry at working with security clearances” or even “Wonder Woman” rather than “that woman who worked for {fill in the blank}.” 

Having your name come to someone’s mind based on skill sets ensures that you have connections if/when you are on the job market. Having a brand can also reach the ears of clients, and generate business for yourself and your company. In turn, you will become an asset for your company.

 

personal branding

 

So, now that I (hopefully) have got you thinking about taking the time to invest in your personal brand, where should that time go?

First off, what do you want to be known for? What do you think your professional strong suits are? Maybe you are an elegant writer, or you are an expert in a specific type of sourcing. Maybe you work heavily with executive search or a certain industry.

Figure out what you’d like people to associate with your name!

From there, you can research potential recruiting or talent acquisition organizations to volunteer with. Working as a volunteer will not only enrich the industry that you work in, but it will also help you meet other TA professionals who you can learn from and vice versa. You’ll be broadening your network and those folks will know you for the work you do as a volunteer. 

If you know of anyone who you look up to for the skills that you want to be known for, reach out to them! Try to learn from them on how they built their personal brand and maybe eventually, ask them to be your mentor. Having a mentor will help you strengthen your skillset and open your eyes to ideas you may not have had on your own.

Lastly, write about it! You can publish your own articles through LinkedIn or you can reach out to the blogs that you follow to see if they need an extra writer. Sharing your expertise for others to learn from will establish your credibility.

The more articles a person reads that you’ve written, the more they will recognize your name. If you are not a confident writer, you can always speak on webinars!

Creating a personal brand does not happen overnight. It is time-consuming and hard work, but slowly you will see the payoff more and more frequently. Eventually, you meet someone who says, “No way! I saw you on this webinar and learned so much!”

Having a personal brand will help your career, but the process of building your personal brand will help numerous others with theirs.


Authors
Julia Adler

Julia "Wonder Woman" Adler Sourcer Julia Adler is currently working as a Sourcer at Wayne Technologies. She works based on clear deliverables, provide full-cycle transparent data, and are changing the way our clients view sourcing. On a day to day basis, she sources candidates, delivers talent maps and market data, finds emails, uses/has experience with a wide variety of tools, and contacts candidates with messaging built around the DISC personality profiles. Outside of Wayne Tech, Julia volunteers as the Editor of ATAP (Association of Talent Acquisition Professionals), is a Staff Writer for SourceCon, and was a Speaker at SourceCon 2020. In her free time, you can find her on a run with her pup, painting, or listening to podcasts. She has been working in recruiting/sourcing for the past four years and specializes in recruitment tooling, building boolean strings, natural language search, and raw sourcing. She believes that you are never done learning, regardless of where you are in your career.