Let’s be honest, to be successful in recruitment you need a combination of hard work, industry knowledge, deep networks, hunting instincts, a little luck and a healthy dose of ego…..

Unfortunately, there are no doctors in recruitment – believe me, not a single doctor specializing in recruitment… I know, I typed Recruitment Doctor into Google and all I got was a list of medical recruitment agencies. So then I tried www.recruitmentdoctor.com  – no website, but you can buy the domain name for $1095.00…

I guess my point is…. If there are no doctors in our industry, how do we know what a healthy dose of ego really is???

We are living in an age of amazing and instantaneous reach. With the proliferation of social and professional networking everyone is closer . You have a thought you tweet it.  You have an idea you blog it.  You have an event you facebook it…  I could go on, but I’m sure you get the picture…

There are very few cogs in the recruitment machine that we as individuals have a lot of control over – our personal brand, or how we present ourselves in the virtual world is one…. Which brings me right back to my original point - what is ‘a healthy dose of ego’?….

No-one among us wants to come across as a ‘knob jockey’, ‘tool’, ‘dickhead’, ‘plonker’, ‘jerk’ etc… Unfortunately though, many of us are doing just that, by posting the most annoying, self righteous know-it-all comments that start with best intentions, and finish with you looking like a narcissistic Donald Trump wannabe…

Let’s look at an example shall we? Twitter is the perfect vehicle to get a message, observation or thought across instantaneously to your  group of followers, who may engage in banter, or retweet to their followers and so on…. That in mind, following is a selection of recent tweets from a well known recruitment business owner… (All names are changed here to protect the stupid…)

‘Is it just me, or is the HR dept at ABC Company inept and archaic?’

Way to get clients onside buddy…

‘@Johnnysmith. If your business wants to compete with me on price good luck. 10% just became 8%’

Ooooh, now not only are you airing your dirty laundry, you’re also revealing your pricing… Great move!

‘Watch me tonight on channel DEF give a masterclass on social networking for recruitment. 7.30pm’

This one’s not too bad in isolation, but then…

‘@Johnnysmith. They wanted the best, so who else would they ask but me?’

Not a hint of self-deprecation…anywhere.

‘You’d think Asian taxi drivers would know their way around Chinatown’

Now we’re playing the race card…

‘@Johnnysmith. Your business lacks one thing to make it successful. Me’

That one takes the cake….

Do you get my point?  The clearest point of differentiation we have is our personal brand, and everyone in the recruitment game should be doing their damnedest to project their personal brand in a positive manner.  You can’t hide from your brand anymore, and people do form opinions from your posts of 140 or less characters…

There are BIG personalities in recruitment, and then there are pompous, self-important egotists… Choose your path – and choose it wisely…

If you enjoyed this blog – please consider following me on Twitter – recguruoz – Promise I won’t be too egotistical…