| I want to tell you a story from early in my recruitment career. I went for one of my first lead recruiter roles. I had 3 rounds of interviews, and a meet and greet with the executive team; I even had reference checks completed. I felt good about it and I knew I’d done everything right. Then I got the call. I was not successful. When I pushed for feedback the hiring manager told me they’d met someone over the weekend through a casual conversation. They didn’t apply, didn’t hold an interview, no formal process at all. Just happened to have a conversation at the right moment with the right person. And that was enough to get ahead of me. When I heard about it, I was frustrated, I won’t lie. But looking back, it was the moment that taught me more about how careers and opportunities move than anything else in my years in recruitment. It’s not just about being qualified. Opportunities often go to the most known candidate, the clearest, the ones who put themselves out there for opportunities to find them. Why does this relate to you? What we are seeing in the Australian market right now is that job ads are falling and so naturally applications per role are surging. More people competing for fewer opportunities, and the filter has changed. According to WiserNotify, 70% of employers now consider personal brand more important than a resume when evaluating candidates. In 15 years of recruitment, I can tell you, this is true. If you’re waiting for the right opportunity to appear and planning to apply when it does, you’re already BEHIND the person who’s been building their presence consistently and who someone already knows. I know, you don’t want to put yourself out there, you might not be comfortable posting or creating content or making videos. You don’t have to do this. But you do need to make sure people know who you are. In different ways. The quietly unhireable problem There’s a type of mid career professional I see constantly. Experienced, capable, genuinely good at what they do, but they’re INVISIBLE. No amount of resume refreshing or AI generated cover letters is going to make you visible overnight. Their LinkedIn reads like a CV from five years ago, they’re not engaging, not showing up anywhere outside their immediate role, and then unfortunately when change happens or opportunities arise, their name doesn’t come up in the conversations that matter. I call this being quietly unhireable. Essentially, unknown. In a market where applications per role are surging, quietly unhireable is a dangerous place to be. What you can actually do about it The person who got that role I went for didn’t sit in a SINGLE interview, they didn’t submit a CV, they bypassed the entire formal process because they were already in the room, already in the relationship. That’s what personal branding is. Not a polished LinkedIn photo and a keyword stuffed headline. It’s being known for something specific by the people who matter in your space, before you need anything from them. It’s having conversations and being clear about what you do, bring and solve. Start with clarity. What do you want to be known for? Not your job title. The problem you solve and who you solve it for. Then show up consistently. LinkedIn, industry events, talk to people, have genuine conversations. Think about how you remember someone, and then deploy that strategy. Ensure you are participating. The market is more competitive than it’s been in years. The candidates who come out of this period ahead won’t be the ones with the best CVs, they’ll be the ones who understood early that visibility is a career strategy, not an afterthought. This is exactly what I work on with mid career professionals through Career Grid. Link below if you want to get into it. Have a workplace or talent related question for the team at TheCareerGrid? We would LOVE to hear from you! Contact us at info@thecareergrid.com Want to hear more from TheCareerGrid? Subscribe to our blog and follow us on LinkedIn! |
More Candidates, Fewer Jobs. Here’s Why Your Personal Brand Is Now Your Best Asset.
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