#12: The Unstoppable Power of a Recruiter's Brand, with Anna Morgan

Rhona Pierce:
00:01

There's a powerful strategy that can level up your recruiting career, and my guest today has proven it works.

Anna Morgan:
00:08

I was hired three times by the same employer. You know why? They couldn't stop seeing my mug on LinkedIn.

Rhona Pierce:
00:15

That's Anna Morgan, a recruiter who transformed her career by mastering personal branding. Over the past decade, she's gone from selling print advertising to becoming a sought after talent acquisition consultant. In this episode, she'll take us through her process of building a personal brand that that attracts both candidates and employers.

Anna Morgan:
00:37

When people see us having public conversations, they are going to trust to have private conversations. The more you give to others, the more comes back to you.

Rhona Pierce:
00:47

From finding your unique voice to balancing personal and employer branding, Anna shares actionable strategies that any recruiter can use to stand out in the digital age. Whether you're just starting out or looking to level up your career, this episode will show you how to leverage the power of personal branding in recruiting. Welcome to Throughout the Playbook, the podcast for recruiters tired of hearing that hiring is broken and ready to do something about it. I'm your host, Rhona Pierce. Let's dive into my conversation with Anna.

Rhona Pierce:
01:20

So let's rewind a little bit. And I always like to ask all of my guests, what initially drew you to talent acquisition?

Anna Morgan:
01:29

Great question. I was selling print advertising for a local publication, and I had just come out of a retailer. And I was like, I don't like doing this work. And I look up, and there's a retail staffing agency above a pizza shop. And I walk in, and I'm like, I don't have an appointment, but I would like a career that is anything except selling advertising.

Anna Morgan:
01:56

And I'm still friends with the August coordinator today. Her name is Nelly. And she was like, okay. And so she gets me an interview. It was with a firm called Apple One.

Anna Morgan:
02:07

They're still around. You know, used to be a very big player in the market. And I got hired on the spot, and I started learning recruiting from that day forward where I was selling and recruiting and absolutely fell in love with it. Just being curious about people, I was like, wait. I get to talk about like, with people and learn about them and then figure out where I could put them?

Anna Morgan:
02:33

Sign me up. So

Rhona Pierce:
02:35

That is so cool. And so many people come from sales into recruiting. Others move from recruiting into sales. When did you realize, like, the importance of building your personal brand?

Anna Morgan:
02:50

You know, I've always been like a I'm a Gen x with kind of a little millennial Gen z interest in social media, and I always found recruiting fascinating. And I would, you know, share things on Facebook primarily because I'm like, I wanna remember this because these stories are wild. The people that I get to meet are wild. The situations that happen where temps don't show up, how I had to let someone go, like, and so I just organically started sharing little more humorous things than anything, and then it just kind of expanded from there. I ended up moving on to a more start up staffing firm where I helped to build out their administrative, clerical, and transactional accounting department.

Anna Morgan:
03:38

And I joined LinkedIn in 2006. So primarily use LinkedIn as a business prospecting or hunting tool, but continued sharing some of those wins and successes and pictures of my employees that I would walk in on their 1st day. And before I knew it, several years have passed, and here we are today being recognized for certain authority with LinkedIn and having coached hundreds of job seekers and helped organizations as well amplify their employment brand. So it really just happened organically and really originally from a fun inspired place.

Rhona Pierce:
04:18

We've got so many fun stories. Just any day, any random day in recruiting, there's always something that stands out. That's a story that you can tell.

Anna Morgan:
04:29

Exactly.

Rhona Pierce:
04:30

Obviously, keeping confidentiality and people's privacy, but it's there's always something interesting. Never a dull moment in a day as a recruiter.

Anna Morgan:
04:40

Never. I mean, one of the situations we had and, you know, I think that's how I also got into coaching is that you would prep your candidates about the client and their hot buttons and what's important to them. And so you would coach them on some best practices, especially we were meeting people in the office. Right? So you would see how they spoke, how they presented, you know, what their style was, and so you would coach to some of those things.

Anna Morgan:
05:04

And we had, one young lady that I don't know what her situation was, but showed up in essentially like a prom dress to an interview. But, you know, I'm always about it's better to be overdressed than underdressed. You've had I mean, just wild stories. I think all recruiters say this. We should write a coffee table book about all the funny things that have happened.

Anna Morgan:
05:26

No one has done it yet. And I keep saying, like, I wanna be the person to gather all these stories and create this this coffee book. So, you know, that's my other shiny object kind of fun project that I think I should do someday. So

Rhona Pierce:
05:40

It would be a hit. I've heard the, we should start a reality show one. No one has started it yet. But No. That's also something that we do good.

Anna Morgan:
05:51

A potential bias and there's a lot of things that go into being able to show up for an interview, and we've all been on the side of the desk looking for a job. I remember having to run to Kinko's and print out my resume on nice paper because I didn't have a printer. There's a lot to that. In theory, we think, oh, well, you know, here, just show up at this place at this time and crush the interview and not keeping in mind that their moms and spouses and daughters and all the other things that go with the logistics in making something that like that happen as well as making the decision to accept or move forward with an opportunity.

Rhona Pierce:
06:31

Yeah. How has personal branding helped you build trust with candidates and with your clients as well?

Anna Morgan:
06:40

Absolutely. I mean, I think when people can relate to you because leadership is relatable, and what we share on social media oftentimes is a highlight reel. But when you do get feedback that people are like, you're exactly like you seem online. That's a great sign. And when I have moved through these positions internally and externally and into entrepreneurship, you know, you have people walk by your cube and say, I love what you're doing on LinkedIn.

Anna Morgan:
07:11

And you're like, I didn't even know that we were connected or that you were following me. It's elevated my internal brand equity. It builds trust with candidates. If they see you publicly having conversations and providing value, they're more likely to respond to your InMail to set up an appointment with you. And trust and relatability is what accelerates, you know, opportunities for those job seekers to have conversations with the hiring managers.

Anna Morgan:
07:42

So being able to shorten that bridge of connection comes down to that personal brand. And when you're sharing information that's valuable as a coach, as a challenger, as a questioner what was the other one? It was coach, challenger, and creator. Right? And also sharing your journey that because people love to follow you along.

Anna Morgan:
08:06

And so many, like, of my candidates have ended up being clients or hiring managers. So it's helped in a variety of different ways. I would say it's a little bit tough sometimes to measure with a candidate piece against, say, your peer that is not as active on social media. But the feedback that I've heard from the candidates, the messages that I've received post phone screen and follow-up really speak volumes to building longer term relationships and in recruiting long term relationships that especially if you're a niche recruiter is extremely valuable.

Rhona Pierce:
08:47

I think, like, for me, kind of like what you were saying, you have people come and tell you, like, hey, I saw what you're doing on LinkedIn. I've also I'm an introvert, so I'm not the best at small talk and stuff like that. But as a recruiter, you kinda have to do that during an interview to, like, get the the candidate comfortable. Anytime a candidate has seen, like, one of my videos or has seen some post, they feel that they know me. There's this level of comfort that actually helps me not be in that, like, nervous.

Rhona Pierce:
09:21

Oh my gosh. I'm meeting someone for the first time. Because I think candidates don't understand that sometimes, like, well, not sometimes. We are human. I know that I get nervous before an interview.

Anna Morgan:
09:31

Sometimes we're recruiting for roles that we've never recruited for. So, like, I filled a plant pathologist role last year, and I was like, how in the world am I gonna get I couldn't even pronounce a third of the words in the job description. So, I mean, I was looking I was definitely nervous when I was getting on the phone with these very intelligent scientific candidates. And I just used humor and relatability, and I'm certain that my brand helped them relax with me. And then they also leveled me up by explaining it in easily understandable, Annemorgan terms.

Anna Morgan:
10:11

So.

Rhona Pierce:
10:12

Yes. Candidates are so much more open to, like, give you grace. So I do mostly recruiting in the tech world. And, yes, I am a former software engineer, software project manager, but I haven't coded in years. So, basically, me talking to an engineer right now, I don't know any of the new things.

Rhona Pierce:
10:32

I just I know it from a recruiter standpoint. I don't know it as a technical person. So maybe I can ask a few more questions. But most of the time, I'm like, wait. Can you explain this a little bit more to me?

Rhona Pierce:
10:44

But just because they they've seen that there's that personal brand, there's that trust, they don't feel the way that I see them treat other exactly. Other people on the team and they're like rude. It's like, well, you should know this. It's they're so open to be like, oh, let me explain this to you type of thing.

Anna Morgan:
11:01

Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And then, you know, being consistent on the platform, again, it just builds that know, like, and trust factor, which is everything in recruiting and in staying employed in recruiting as well, I believe.

Rhona Pierce:
11:19

Yeah. So what steps should recruiters take if they wanna start working on establishing their personal brand?

Anna Morgan:
11:28

Yeah. So I think it's a combo question. Right? Like, the advice that I would have for recruiters about, like, how to get started prior to how to start building their brand. Because a lot of recruiters are like, what am I good at?

Anna Morgan:
11:40

You know, they need that clarity. Right? So what is your sweet spot? What's your lane? What's your niche?

Anna Morgan:
11:46

Like, list out the topics that you're passionate about. Think about the books you read, the podcast that you listen to. What are you researching? Think about what you're doing outside of work, where you're volunteering, or do you coach a softball or or baseball team? And then think about, like, what is the legacy that you wanna leave behind, like, first?

Anna Morgan:
12:06

And a very basic exercise. I do this with job seekers and encourage this of recruiters that are thinking about what is my brand. Text your past coworkers and bosses and say, hey. I'm working on my personal brand. What are 5 words that you would use to describe me?

Anna Morgan:
12:25

And then look for trends and then lean into those words and start there. Like, have that clarity and then own it. Let those things be you, and don't be afraid to showcase those things. Because back to the relatability factor is we could care less if you can recruit engineers. But are you a yogi?

Anna Morgan:
12:48

Do you drink coffee? And do you love dogs? I will definitely respond to your direct message. Right? So I think that's step 1.

Anna Morgan:
12:57

Like, how to get started. And then once you're there, you have to be able to tell that story. So have a profile that speaks to that. Start with your cover image. Your cover image can do so much for you.

Anna Morgan:
13:10

It's real estate. Have a headline that is SEO and search friendly, but also show some personality. And then engage. When people see us having public conversations, they are going to trust to have private conversations. The more you give to others, the more comes back to you.

Anna Morgan:
13:30

And my personal experience is I never saw myself as a creator. I, like, had to take English 101 twice. I fell failed out of college in 96, finished my degree later. You know, I was, like, I'm never gonna write as a professional or put out creative content, but here we are. And how I found my voice was by engaging with others.

Anna Morgan:
13:54

I found my voice in the comments. So if there's a recruiter that's, like, looking for that first step, comment on other people's content. Give to them. The search bar on LinkedIn is powerful. Search up topics that you're comfortable talking about.

Anna Morgan:
14:09

I don't care if it's knitting. Find hashtag knitting on LinkedIn and go comment on that content. You're gonna start to build community of people that are talking about the same things. And then you'll start to run into some of the same people in the comments, kind of like how you and I ran into each other on a shared post and here we are. I'm, like, huge fan, and then you invited me to your podcast or I was recommended by 2 different people.

Anna Morgan:
14:36

So the commenting and engaging piece is such an underutilized aspect of the platform, and it's a very sustainable strategy. Not everyone has to be a creator. People think they wanna throw up all this content and it's like, just have public conversations and be yourself.

Rhona Pierce:
14:53

Yes. There's a lot like, I'm not a big commenter also. So so there's two sides of it because, like I said, I'm not, like, big on small talk and stuff like that. But when I create content and people comment on it, those are so easy for me to reply to. But one thing, when on days where because it's true.

Rhona Pierce:
15:16

As a creator, there are days where I have zero creativity. I have no clue what to post, and I have this thing for myself where I only post things that I would want to consume. I don't just post for posting. Well, on those days, I go and look at people's content and I start commenting. And it's so incredible the amount of people that I've met in the comments.

Rhona Pierce:
15:41

I can tell you right now, I probably am going to have, by the time this is released, like 8 or 9 podcast episodes. All of them have been people that I found in the comments.

Anna Morgan:
15:54

Yes. Like, I am team commenting. I mean, going back to also, like, getting started and thinking about your legacy and who you wanna be, the other thing I think about because people are like, I don't wanna do self promotion. It feels braggy. Put your servant leadership hat on.

Anna Morgan:
16:13

Think about the woman or the man or the kid that you needed when you were starting out in your recruiting career. Let me just tell you. If I saw cool, badass, bold women like us showing up on LinkedIn, I would be like, I want more of that. Right? And that goes back to being a coach, being a creator, being a challenger.

Anna Morgan:
16:36

Do you have strong opinions? I have strong opinions about, you know, cover letters. But it's going from, like, that are you familiar with the drama triangle where it's the drama triangle to the new leadership triangle? So it used to be, are you creating content to be a helper, rescuer, the victim prosecutor mindset? And now it's the coach creator and challenger kind of mindset.

Anna Morgan:
17:00

So and that's how people can find their voice. Challengers ask curious questions. Creators shift from needing permission to taking action and sharing their mistakes along the way, like I share about my entrepreneurial journey. And then coaches, like, they empower people to take action. And sometimes it's based on the action that they're doing gives others permission to take that first step.

Rhona Pierce:
17:25

There's something that I've spoken to recruiters about, especially just people in the DMs. Everyone thinks that the type of content that recruiters have to create has to be for job seekers. It has to be type of, like, job search advice. Or the other side of that coin is advice for recruiters. What advice do you have for recruiters who are unsure about how to position themselves and, like, what type of content to start creating?

Anna Morgan:
17:56

I think it goes back again to, like, what your interests are, and my belief is leadership can show up in a lot of different ways. I commented on a a post of a peer who was celebrating her son's 7th birthday, and she gave 7 tips to him, but that were also relevant to a link our LinkedIn community. And, you know, I said parenting is one of the most humbling leadership lessons that we're ever gifted. Right? So it could be parenting.

Anna Morgan:
18:23

It could be mental health. It could be your love of yoga. It could be your favorite coffee brands. Again, when I think back to my agency days and I was out knocking on doors and delivering donuts and having intake meetings with prospective, you know, clients. It was those things that we were talking about, the pictures on their desk, their activities out of work, outside of work.

Anna Morgan:
18:47

It wasn't the fact that they sold spirally widgets and whatever. So think about those things and share about those things. And if you can turn it into a leadership lesson, do it. And then don't be afraid of what other people think. I mean, so many people I tend to attract social media introverts, which is really fascinating to me.

Anna Morgan:
19:09

And they're like, well, what do my coworkers think? What will my boss think? And I was like, who cares? And you have to be able to kind of step into that energy. My experience has been nothing but positive where people, like I said, were like, I love what you do on LinkedIn.

Anna Morgan:
19:26

Thank you for sharing that and so forth and so on. Now I'm sure other people have had different experiences, but LinkedIn is your playground. It is a professional networking site. Leverage it. Have fun.

Anna Morgan:
19:40

Be yourself.

Rhona Pierce:
19:41

And you touched a bit about a little on this about being consistent. How do you okay. I'm a recruiter. I've decided I wanna start sharing content to build my personal brand. What content creation strategies can you give to listeners because content creation is just one piece of recruiting.

Anna Morgan:
20:04

It really is. And, again, I mean, when you're busy running a full desk and a heavy rec load, My solution was I'd had LinkedIn up on a second screen. In between calls, I would make some comments. I would make a note about anything I saw about a post that I wanted to do, and I would take comments and turn those into post prior to the new function that they have, hashtag old school. And, I would just keep a running document of that.

Anna Morgan:
20:35

And then at night or on the weekends, I would decide, okay. I'm gonna do a text post or a picture post, or this makes sense for a carousel, or maybe I'll do a TikTok and repurpose it on the platform. For me, it was basically, like, things that were coming up in the moment. Like, the other day, I have a draft saved because I'm I'm trying to get more active on TikTok. And I was looking at a recruiter's profile, and I'm like, yes.

Anna Morgan:
21:01

She is the director of recruiting. She, you know, had this much GM. She was managing these people these many people. And then her position before that, she's selling the company that she used to work for. So it's all about this company, da da da da.

Anna Morgan:
21:16

And so my thought was, I need to make a piece of content to tell recruiters to check their experience section, talk about what a badass they are, and stop marketing for their old employers. Bam. You know, like, little things that would come up like that.

Rhona Pierce:
21:32

Very cool. So I'm sure you ran into this, but some recruiters wanna live a very private life, and they don't really wanna be out there on social media. Are there other strategies that people can use to build a personal brand if they don't wanna be on social media?

Anna Morgan:
21:51

Okay. That's a really hard question, especially for someone that loves social media. I would say to go to candidate centric events. So really try to find ways that you can do recruiting, have your company sponsor events, certainly be involved in college recruiting or trade shows, join professional associations. So if you are working roles that are more light industrial, you know, building partnerships with trade schools or other trade associations, then speaking engagements are a way that you can really amplify an employment brand, highlight the employer, and showcase your leadership skills.

Anna Morgan:
22:36

The only other thing I thought about is you could publish, like, an ebook or a guide or other resources that might amplify, you know, for the employment brand. I think there's things that you could do within the organization where then maybe the marketing team could push it out on the company page? That's a tricky question. I would be curious what are some of your thoughts because I kinda feel like, who is it Han Solo from Star Wars? Like, social media is the way.

Anna Morgan:
23:08

This is the way.

Rhona Pierce:
23:10

So I'm a 100% team social media for many reasons. It's just it's 2024. This is how we do it now. This is how you win. Sorry.

Rhona Pierce:
23:21

I also do that. I sing a lot of the things that I say. So but, yeah, this is how it's done now. And, yes, you can go to conferences a 100%. I've done it.

Rhona Pierce:
23:32

I love going to conferences. It takes because I'm an introvert, it takes a lot of my energy. Those 3, 4 days where you have to be on talking to candidates, doing this, doing the other, like really selling, but it's a way of doing it. Now it always helps if people have seen your content, if people know who you are, things like that. So it's not impossible.

Rhona Pierce:
23:58

There are a few people that recruit, especially in very niche fields, and they don't have a social media presence, I love that for them. I don't think that's something that the majority of us can do. I don't think it's something that's going to scale. And unless you're pretty ready for retirement or to not be in recruiting, you really have to jump on some level of social media. I always tell people you don't have to post every day.

Rhona Pierce:
24:30

You don't have to do what everyone else is doing, but you have to find something that works for you and do it.

Anna Morgan:
24:37

And that's sustainable. And maybe come up with a pattern or a process that's just yours that you can stick to. But, again, the reason I'm like team comment because when in doubt, if your life falls apart, if you're overwhelmed with wrecks, you can at least find 30 minutes to make 10 comments that day. And if you do that, LinkedIn's gonna reward you with that visibility. So I absolutely believe in sustainability when it comes to showing up on LinkedIn, but there's so few recruiters that do it.

Anna Morgan:
25:14

And it's so powerful, and it's even more powerful for ensuring their well-being. Forget the employment branding for them so that they are top of mind, so that they are sought out. So when they get laid off, their bounce back is so much faster. That's why I talk about career insurance.

Rhona Pierce:
25:36

Yeah. And you mentioned employer branding, which is important. It's not really the focus of this conversation. However, a big part of employer branding is also the brand of the employees that are attached to that company and recruiters being at the forefront of that employer brand. What strategies can recruiters use to align their personal brand with the employer brand, and should they be doing this?

Anna Morgan:
26:05

Yeah. I mean, our jobs as recruiters are to sell the organization, and we have to understand the business. So the first thing you wanna do as a recruiter is you want to just absorb as much information as you can. So that could be, like, multiple intake meetings with hiring managers. That could be shadowing team members.

Anna Morgan:
26:28

That could be site visits, you know, and really getting behind the scenes and really understanding all the different levels, you know, not just from the hiring manager perspective, but sit down and interview the merchandising coordinator and get an idea of of where they came from school, what their core competencies are. Those will only help you recruit more effectively for the roles. Then you're most likely not gonna be working for an organization where there's a massive values misalignment between you and the organization. So you're already gonna have some of that there. And then that what shows up in your content, the values alignment.

Anna Morgan:
27:09

Right? Because you might create a a cover image that highlights yourself and then also the brand that you're representing. Right? It can show your audience, like, what you do. It shows you in action.

Anna Morgan:
27:23

It amplifies your brand and the company's brand. They could say we're hiring, so people know you're signaling to them to engage. Obviously, use the hiring banner. Big fan of that if you're in recruiting. So many people miss that opportunity as well as encouraging their hiring managers to use the hiring banner.

Anna Morgan:
27:45

Like, that is such a great way to get referrals and visibility. So giving clear direction of where people need to go is important. I'm trying to think strategies that they can use to amplify their brand and the employer brand. I mean, show yourself in action. Record little micro pieces of content at company events.

Anna Morgan:
28:08

Participate in the community outreach and different programs that the company offers so that they your candidates and internal stakeholders, see the melding of those values. And then ask for feedback. And don't be afraid to think get feedback of what your colleagues and your peers think. And I think those are some good suggestions to, you know, kick things off. You know, I could go a lot deeper in that.

Anna Morgan:
28:38

But

Rhona Pierce:
28:39

Yeah. No. Those are great things out. Exactly. And those are great suggestions.

Rhona Pierce:
28:45

And I think it's very important, and it would be a disservice to listeners if I don't mention this. But, yes, there has to be a balance between the promotion, the branding that you do for your employer and your branding. Because as you've spoken about insurance, that career insurance, that's why I do personal branding. I see a lot of recruiters think, okay. Personal branding means posting on LinkedIn, and all they do is post all of the branding material that either marketing or the employer brand team or recruitment marketing team has created.

Rhona Pierce:
29:20

And everything you see on their profile is about the company that they work for. That is not building trust. They don't know who you are. The way that I see this is you showing up authentically, everything that we've spoken about, like, choosing something that you like and everything. And, yes, sprinkling some post about your hiring.

Rhona Pierce:
29:41

I mean, that's why you're doing it. Right? You you wanna get

Anna Morgan:
29:45

Yeah.

Rhona Pierce:
29:45

Candidates. But the real way to enhance and boost an employer brand and have that career insurance for yourself is to lean on the personal side of personal branding. Don't just heavily focus on the company for many reasons. But one important reason is, as we've all known and seen in the past couple of years, you might not be there tomorrow. So if all of your branding

Anna Morgan:
30:14

Yes. Yes.

Rhona Pierce:
30:15

Yes. If all of your branding is for a company yeah.

Anna Morgan:
30:19

And I think a lot of people and maybe it's easier for more creative folks to see this. Right? You can co brand yourself as a recruiter for a Fortune 500 company and brand your side hustle or brand yourself or all 3. I've I've done all 3. And it takes some ingenuity and it's LinkedIn is always evolving.

Anna Morgan:
30:42

Right? And it's testing different things out. What worked for me in 2020 is not going to work for me today. There are different methods, but it's it's having fun with it and just testing different things out and just showing up, not being hung up on the metrics, not being focused on gathering x number of followers or this many impressions. You know, like we tell job seekers, it only takes 1 person to open that door, one person to say yes, and it only takes one person to be like, I want her on my team the next time she's available for an opportunity.

Anna Morgan:
31:17

And I was hired 3 times by the same employer. You know why? They couldn't stop seeing my mug on LinkedIn. So they were like, oh, Anna's not here. We're not filling our positions.

Anna Morgan:
31:29

Get Anna back. My phone rings. And what happens? Like, each time I came back, like, my authority, my expertise, and my price tag went up. And that's the result that I wanna create for all TA and HR professionals around the world.

Rhona Pierce:
31:43

Heavy on the price tag part. So the last job that I got, I actually connected with my manager at that company, who's the most awesome manager I've ever had. I absolutely love Tara Turcanes. We connected. We met on Twitter.

Rhona Pierce:
31:59

And when I saw a random post that she was hiring, I wasn't looking for a job, but I was like, I like this person. So her personal brand made me want to apply for the role, and my personal brand made her want to do everything she had to do to hire me. Because I live in Oklahoma, and the company we were working for or she was working for at that time was not open in Oklahoma because of the strong personal brand and the affinity and because we have known each other, known each other online. She did what she had to do to make sure that she could hire me.

Anna Morgan:
32:43

Amazing. I mean and I have I mean, just story after story. Like, this most recent one is I have been following a fractional CHR row. I probably called on her back in my Tampa recruiting days. We're talking 2,008 maybe.

Anna Morgan:
33:00

Anyway, we've stayed connected. We've run into each other on different comments. We were at similar events. We ended up being on a couple shows together. She calls me up.

Anna Morgan:
33:12

She's on a project. She needs an interim TA professional to help build out an HR ops team. Didn't have to interview, didn't have to do anything except give her the information, my w nine, or negotiate my monthly rate and get started. So it was like guaranteed income coming into the 1st of the year. You can't put a price on that.

Anna Morgan:
33:34

And then it puts you, the recruiter, in a position of power where you can have first right of refusal, and then you have options instead of having just to take the first thing that comes your way or being in that application forced networking energy, which is a tough place to be in where a lot of people are, unfortunately. Because this work, this branding, this type of networking doesn't come naturally to everyone. And that's why it's important that we're having these conversations so that we can unlock and hopefully inspire others to just start small.

Rhona Pierce:
34:13

So we've talked a lot about the importance, the the benefits, how it helps you build trust. What can listeners do? Like, what steps can they take to start today? Recruiters,

Anna Morgan:
34:25

we're talking about. Right? Yes.

Rhona Pierce:
34:27

To start building their personal brand.

Anna Morgan:
34:29

Yeah. I mean, I would go back to really looking at getting that clarity and building some lanes that you wanna be known for and then engaging. That's where I built my muscle. Maybe take some of those comments and turn them into a post. And then, you know, start really simple.

Anna Morgan:
34:48

You could do lighter pieces of content celebrating other people in the industry. Right? Doing a roundup post of your top female recruitment voices that you admire on the platform, your top recruiting podcast that you love. You could share a testimonial from a candidate. Right?

Anna Morgan:
35:09

This is one thing that I would encourage recruiters to do if they're starting building their brand. When you're wrapping it up an offer and you're like, your start date is this, and I'm so glad once they get started, ask those candidates for a recommendation. If other job seekers see that candidates had given you shout outs publicly on your profile, they are definitely going to trust to, you know, respond and engage with you. So start with light content. I mean, it could be a day in the life.

Anna Morgan:
35:41

It could be, again, you know, your exercise routine. Like, I love one of my fellow Ask A Recruiter stage members, Erin, Murphree. She does these videos of her recruiting on her little walking treadmill, and that's memorable. And that doesn't have anything to do with recruiting, but she's one of the first people I think of that has one of those and obviously makes me one one as well. So, you know, start light.

Anna Morgan:
36:07

Start with the stuff that's close to you. Start with engagement, and then be bold. Be brave. Be the woman or man that you would have liked to see on social media 5 or 10 years ago.

Rhona Pierce:
36:20

Amazing. How could listeners connect with you?

Anna Morgan:
36:23

LinkedIn all day. So you just search Anna Morgan. I think it's Anna Morgan recruiter dash career b f f. And then I basically create content for LinkedIn and then repurpose it, Facebook, Instagram, sometimes TikTok. I'm trying to get more visible on there.

Anna Morgan:
36:40

Trying to get over my own fear in creating content there. So we're all supporting each other along that journey.

Rhona Pierce:
36:48

Perfect. And I'll also have your contact information in the show notes and on the description for those watching on YouTube for sure.

Anna Morgan:
36:55

Absolutely. And I'm always looking to doing some market research. So I'm just gonna throw this out there with full cycle recruitment professionals. On my profile, they can book a call right underneath my headline. I am looking to do some interviews with some recruiters around some of these topics.

Anna Morgan:
37:14

So that is an open link and open in invitation. I'll not only support you in your search, and then we can, wrap up with just a couple market research questions. So that'd be great.

Rhona Pierce:
37:26

Perfect. And I'll also include that link in the show notes.

Anna Morgan:
37:30

Perfect.

Rhona Pierce:
37:30

Thank you so much for being here today. This was an amazing conversation.

Anna Morgan:
37:36

Likewise. Thank you for having me. And for those out there, you know, messy action is better than perfect action. So, you know, just start.

Rhona Pierce:
37:45

Love it. And that wraps up my conversation with Anna Morgan. We've covered so much ground today from the power of personal branding to building trust with candidates through authenticity. Remember, like Anna said, messy action is better than perfect inaction. Whether it's commenting on post, sharing your experiences, or simply being yourself online.

Rhona Pierce:
38:08

I encourage you to start building your personal brand today. It's the best insurance for your career. And speaking of building trust with candidates, I've got something special for you. If you enjoyed this episode and wanna take your recruiting game to the next level, check out my free 7 day email course, storytelling for recruiters. This course teaches you how to proactively answer the questions that job seekers really wanna know about your company.

Rhona Pierce:
38:34

It's based on an anonymous survey I ran asking job seekers what they'd ask in an interview if they knew their chances of being hired wouldn't be impacted. To sign up, visit rhonapierce.com/storytelling. The link is in the show notes. If you wanna learn more about branding as a recruiter, check out episode 7, where James Ellis, an expert in employer branding, shares how to measure the impact of your employer brand and how to get management on board with your branding effort. Thanks for listening, and I'll chat with you next week.