Your Reputation.  It's your credibility.  It's your voice, it's your respect for others, it's helping others and paying it forward that leads to exceptional Karma.  As I look back on amazing circumstances, changes, macro and micro economic circumstances et al, to Recruiting I am reminded on this Friday of something a candidate told me in a 30 minute conversation this week.  This candidate I recently hired in Salt Lake City, and he mentioned something about how I had made him comfortable throughout the process, helped him navigate his questions and kept him moving in the right direction. Personally, it was very reassuring and helpful to know I had made such an impact.  Throughout fast moving recruitment processes, and changing circumstances that are flowing ever further into even more change I can't help but be hopeful that as Recruiters, Sourcers and Staffing Professionals that we will remember this one poignant and important fact that to place emphasis on the Human areas of the Recruitment approach will make a major difference at every stage. In a Human Business - Being Human matters.  With a tight unemployment rate the likes we haven't seen in years, and an explosion of new entrants to the HR tech scene, it is vital to remain true to the one area of success that is tied so closely to a Recruiter's Human impact - Their Reputation.  Building a reputation as one who gets back to clients and candidates, who keeps business promises, who respects their competitors even when your competition doesn't respect you, and SO many more facets tied to long term REPUTATION.

I can't speak for others but I know myself, I know that I try to build a way forward that builds credibility with others, that drives circumstances such that I can help others find success, not for money but for the pure satisfaction of paying it forward, this emphasis and approach alone add to my reputation.  I believe in trying to better myself and along the way help better others.  How quickly do we provide feedback to candidates after an interview?  How quickly do we resolve issues we face?  How helpful and kind are we to others in a world full of shaming and negative circumstances?  Have you ever taken a moment to review your own approach to quality measurements?  Have you built a brand such that when you speak your voice is heard, and a door in your industry to the candidate of SuperStar Platinum status answers your call?  I am amazed at how often we must remind ourselves in all the noise in the Recruiting space today to just "Go back to basics."  Folks it really is simple, try to return the call, be genuine to helping others, and never forget the Human touch of your business approach.

I take great pride in my Recruiting desk, I take pride in persuading exceptional candidates to join an exceptional company.  Whatever space, industry or environment we are in, remember this one truth, the door you open today for another may one day turn into a door opened by that person for you.  Truth be told, I have found my Voice in my Career and I won't lose it, my reputation is mine and mine alone.  I don't fear my competitors, or the industry I am in, further I take pride in knowing that I am part of a greater team.  If there is one thing that I have learned at scale, over time, it's to respect others, respect the voices in my own Recruiting Community across the spectrum, and keep driving for success across multiple ventures.

Respect across multiple perspectives, in an industry defined by many factors, let us make one statement now that I hope many will see as an important matter at hand and that is: respect the voices across the industry you are in, across multiple ventures, remember the humanity that gave you wings to fly when your career was in the early stages.  I hope many of us who are experienced will not forget the time where you were starting out.  There are many roads into recruitment, and these roads and gifts of experience are powerful nuggets of wisdom to be shared.  I hope we will all take time whether new or experienced professionals in recruitment to give advice, help others, and build patterns that enhance the entire profession of recruitment - in effect build a collective strong Reputation.  Every action you take has consequences, and for that matter outcomes that can open doors later.

Recruiting is and will remain a networking professional endeavor, a contact sport.  Reputation is a powerful component of leverage that opens many doors.  It remains as true today as ever before.  We don't know where and when change will come, but let it be said of you, that you did something that made your Recruitment brand that much more powerful.  Relationships are built over trust and earned reputation.  Through time once that trust is established then business contracts can be won, candidate trust gained, client relationships built, and so on.  I believe in Reputation as I do oxygen to live.  I hope we will all remember what it takes to build a reputation on purpose, without fear.  Critics abound in many spaces, unfortunately, when one Googles "Recruiters Are": you find a whole host of unsavory responses that Google seems to show forth to the collective whole.  I suppose the question is, do you build your Reputation as one who is positive, or negative?  What venture of success will come when your voice is heard loudly in your industry niche with a Reputation that others want to be a part of?  Whatever it may be, Recruiting is a wonderful professional endeavor, and I take great pride in building a winning Reputation.  Regardless of what happens at the micro level, for myself I hope my Reputation adds value to whatever venture I choose.  I argue that reputation is still a Recruiter's secret weapon in the war for talent.  Yes there are reviews on Glassdoor, and Quora, and a host of other sites, these are but the extension of the interesting times we live in.

Reputation over time will become more important, I stake my opinion strongly on that fact, for I have seen the impact day in and day out in the trenches of Recruiting focus.  I am not afraid of what the future may hold, or how technology will change the spaces we recruit in, what I do know is it is vitally important to build a Reputation that creates and adds value.  Personally, I am grateful to the Recruiting community for helping me, for the doors others have opened.  I don't forget that.  But I call out to all in the Recruiting profession, let's build greater value, and create a Reputation that will influence economic circumstances for the better for years to come.  Yes - let's make our Reputation strong across all segments.  It's in our best interests to do so, and for that matter, will have long term lasting repercussions to careers, livelihoods, and ventures for years to come.  Reputation is a Recruiter's greatest and most important value adding x-factor.  And that has proven true throughout my 14 years of recruitment.  Thank goodness I am in this career path, and I am grateful I get to keep building a reputation that I hope will continue to add value to all those I come into contact with.  Recruiting in 2018 to me is still a great place to be.  Let's just make sure our Reputation is a strong one out in the marketplace.