Brand awareness isn?t just for the big consumer products corporations any more.  It?s also for Contract Recruiters who market themselves through the sophistication of the internet, networking events, and just plain word of mouth advertising.

Many Contract Recruiters looking for that next gig struggle to verbalize or even put in an email what their ?sweet spot? is when it comes to recruiting.  As I work with the major recruiting firms around North America in their search for Contract Recruiters, there is one very common thread that seems to come around every time a new Contract Recruiter is hired.  That is, where is their specialty when it comes to recruiting? 

Over the years, I have felt that being a generalist in business and in recruiting is a good trait.  In many cases that holds true for companies who need Contract Recruiters to handle many different functional positions.  However, more and more, recruiting agencies are creating vertical groups of recruiters to handle for instance industrial positions, or healthcare positions, or financial opportunities.  When these agencies come looking for a Contract Recruiter, they usually need immediate help in their particular vertical market.  The last thing they want is a generalist to come on board and have to spend several days or weeks learning the vertical market specifics.

So, it seems that this requirement tends to direct us Contract Recruiters to determine what specific vertical market or functional position expertise we have, and then brand ourselves in an effort to better market our capabilities?  If this is true, and you don?t want to be a generalist, then how do we brand our capabilities to the market?  I think a few basic steps are in order:

�      Determine your niche recruiting strength and force yourself to write it on paper as a way to clean up the wording.

�      Prepare your ?elevator speech? which will clearly define your niche to any agency or company looking for a Contract Recruiter.

�      Begin to build your brand.  Put your marketing paragraph of your niche or expertise on your web page.  Get involved in industry events specializing in this niche recruiting area.  Comment in Blogs about your area of expertise.

Once you are confident in what your ?marketing brand? is, and you are prepared to market your talents, have fun expanding your opportunity list as an expert in that area of recruiting.  Good luck in building your own ?Personal Contract Recruiter Brand?!