BUS133

Briefing Paper

George Quy

The Importance of Personal Branding for Employers and

Students
Background
This paper provides information on personal branding, and how it can be
utilised by students and employers to be used as an employability tool.
The world is changing and evolving, as is the way in which people apply
for jobs and promote themselves, as well as the way in which companies
employ someone. Traditionally, when a company would need to employ a
new person, they would advertise the vacancy and then hopeful
applicants would complete an application form, and often the employer
would ask for a copy of the applicants CV an account of someones
professional life, usually focusing on education and work history.
The CV used to be the pinnacle of self-branding, and this was the part of a
job application where hopeful employees could show the employers who
they are, and why they should be employed. However, some could argue
that this approach did not give employers the most accurate
representation of applicants, then with the growth of the internet being
used for personal use and particularly social media came one thing which
most people on the internet would be possessing and growing as time
went on; a digital footprint; the data that exists online as a result of
someones online activities. This grew with the popularity of personal
branding moving to the online world, people began to create digital
profiles to brand themselves.
Current Research
Current research shows that businesses are not only beginning to use
digital profiles as a recruitment tool more and more, but they plan to for a
long time. In a survey of employers carried out by Jobvite (2012) it states
that 92% of employers involved in the survey use or plan to begin using
social media as a recruitment tool. The survey also states that 86% of
recruiters are likely to look at the social media profiles of job applicants. It
can often be assumed that employers are going to exclusively look at
someones career based social networks, websites such as LinkedIn have
given people the chance to create a professional online profile, however
this does not make up 100% of someones digital footprint and employers
know this. Depending on someones privacy settings, employers can also
look at someones more personal social networks, websites such as
Facebook and Twitter offer an insight into someones personal life, views
and opinions, and many other things that one would deem to be private
can often be seen by the whole world with just a simple name search.
With this in mind, it is important that people are careful of what they are
posting on these sites and making open to the public. The Jobvite (2012)
survey reports that poor spelling and profanity do give recruiters a bad

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impression of a potential employee. The discovery of certain posts on

someones profile create a negative view of that candidate, things such as
references to doing illegal drugs, posts of a sexual nature and profanity in
posts all ranked the highest on negativity for employers.
However, with the negative effect that someones online presence can
have on their employment prospects also comes a positive side to
recruitment through the use of personal branding. Employers are gaining
more of an idea on who exactly a candidate is when they use social media
platforms and this means that there can not only be negative effects of
using social media as a recruitment tool. Jobvite (2012) also states that
memberships to professional organisations, and volunteering/donations to
charity give employers a positive feeling towards that person possibly
giving them more of a chance in the job application, this is something that
people can add to their personal branding profiles to increase their chance
of employment.
Current Issues
The relevance of personal branding and digital profiles being used as
recruitment tools is growing and growing as social media platforms
become more and more popular. This is supported by Myhal (2014):
Rsums will be displaced by constantly evolving representations
of individual experiences, skills and aptitudes that exist purely in the
digital realm
This supports the idea that physical copies of CVs and job applications are
a thing of the past, and we are in an evolving generation and a changing
time where one day people will view physical CVs as old fashioned, and
the main place to promote yourself will be online. This means that
personal branding and digital profiles are the new primary recruitment
tool.
However, with all the benefits of using digital profiles as a recruitment tool
come some negatives also. With the accessibility that employers can
potentially have to someones personal social media profiles come some
questions about privacy, or even in some cases discrimination. This has
been discussed by Broughton (2013):
A US survey found that the most common reasons for not
shortlisting and rejecting candidates were based on lifestyle rather
than
employment-related information. For example, 35 per cent of those
surveyed said
that they found material on Social Network Sites that caused them
to not hire a job candidate;
social media postings that included 'provocative or inappropriate'
photographs or

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information were cited by 53 per cent of HR managers as a reason

to turn down
an employee.
However personal branding has many more aspects and methods to it
than just what someone puts on social media. There are a number of ways
in which people can supplement their personal brand to make them more
appealing to businesses. An example is video profiles, often people will
make a video in which they talk about themselves, describing things such
as their key strengths or aspirations. This demonstrates a certain level of
confidence to an employer, the ability to speak confidently into a camera
is a difficult skill to master, and it invites people into someones life.
Implications
Although personal branding can be done in many different ways, it all
comes down to the same goal; promoting yourself, highlighting your
strengths to an external audience. According to Gad (2002) the creation of
a strong personal brand is done in two steps; differentiation and
dramatization being different, and magnifying the small differences until
they are perceived as important enough to make an impression.
For many businesses, the growth of social media recruitment would seem
to be an entirely positive change. This is understandable because of the
idea that businesses can now handpick their employees and it has
brought with it a considerable amount of advantages for everyone
involved, however delving deeper into the situation allows for the
understanding of the negative effect it has had on HR professionals and
recruitment departments. Put simply, the introduction of social media
recruitment has meant more policies, more legislations, training and
guidelines for business to adhere to, HR and recruitment professionals
specifically.
For students personal branding is something that they are actively
encouraged to do throughout their studies, the main way in which
students will do this is through social media sites, over time building an
online portfolio of their achievements and experience. In the ever
changing market it can never be certain where things are heading,
however it can be assumed that personal branding will become the main
way in which students can reach out to external businesses, allowing
those businesses to handpick future employees.
When job searching on the internet fist began, there would have been and
still is a number of popular websites with jobs ranging from construction
workers to financial professionals. However, over time people have begun
to gravitate towards job websites specifically for their field. For example,
someone who works in the finance sector is more likely to visit a website
such as www.efinancialcareers.com rather than a general job website
posting jobs from every field.

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Furthermore, this suggests that students in the future will do the same,
moving themselves from general websites such as LinkedIn and on to
social networks specific for their sector rather than creating a personal
profile for everyone to see. Using the example of the financial sector
again, it is likely that a financial graduate in the future will create a
personal profile on a social network designed specifically for finance
professionals and financial recruiters rather than LinkedIn. This is an
effective way for both businesses and candidates to further filter and
tailor their searches, making the process simpler for everyone involved.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the relevance of a Personal branding as a recruitment tool
for students and businesses has never been more important as it is now,
and it will continue to grow in popularity for both recruiters and students.
As it evolves and changes, so will the way in which people use it. It is
important that hopeful students use it to the best of their ability and allow
it to become a supplement to their job applications and benefit them,
rather than be a victim to the negative effects of social media
recruitment. This can be achieved by being more cautious of what they
are posting online, and using their security settings properly.
Recommendations
The future of recruitment is more than likely heading in the direction of
personal branding, particularly digital profiles and social media. As
generations change so does the way in which they communicate, the best
businesses will recognise this, and eventually businesses looking to recruit
will do so in a way which suits the generation, for example more mobile
friendly job adverts and emails. It is also likely that we will see a decrease
in recruitment methods such as physical application forms, or even
telephone interviews with the growth of instant messages and fast online
communication coming with the future generations and graduates.

References
Online Resources
ACAS, 2011. Social Media and Recruitment. [08/12/2015]. Available from:
http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3377
BROUGHTON, 2014. The Use of Social Media in the Recruitment Process.
Brighton [07/12/2015]. Available from:
http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/0/b/The-use-of-social-media-in-therecruitment-process.pdf

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JOBVITE, 2012. Social Recruiting Survey Results. [07/12/2015]. Available

from:
http://web.jobvite.com/rs/jobvite/images/Jobvite_2012_Social_Recruiting_S
urvey.pdf
MYHAL, 2014. Recruiters Ditch the Resume for Digital and Social.
[07/12/2015]. Available from: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6975future-of-recruiting.html
Physical Resources
GAD, 2002. Managing Brand Me. London: Pearson Education Limited
HEADWORTH, 2015. Social Media Recruitment. London: Kogan Page
Limited
KAPUTA, 2006. U R A Brand!. California: Davies-Black Publishing
REIN, 2006. High Visibility. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies
SALENBACHER, 2010. Creative Personal Branding. London: CPB Lab