Recruiters that are ‘winning’ – Will McPhee

Over the next couple of months, I’m going to be asking three simple questions to recruiters who have built an engaged online community.

You might call this ‘personal branding’.

I wanted to share with you how they are reaping the rewards from their investment. I’ve avoided contacting any of my clients. 

Some of these recruiters are doing great stuff on multiple channels, creating lots of different types of content, while others are doing one particular thing exceptionally well.

Something they all have in common: they consistently turn up.

So why am I doing this?

To inspire recruiters - just like you - to do more.

Step forward, my first guest.

He’s a Kiwi chap, living in Oz, by the name of Will McPhee. Will is the GM of SMAART Recruitment in Sydney and works out of Melbourne. He specialises in recruiting call centre people across Australia.

 Will has mastered the skill of sharing his observations on LinkedIn – some of it is recruitment, some of it is about the thing called life.

These are the three questions I asked Will.

Why did you start creating content?

Before I moved to Sydney to start SMAART Recruitment’s first interstate office, we had a ‘big talk’ about how I would try and get new business and be taken seriously in a new market. I was encouraged through my directors, especially James Witcombe; who had been vocal on LinkedIn for several years and had a strong and active network. I think they also wanted me to do more than just recruitment and start to be more involved with our candidates and clients and offer something more than just hiring services. I hate the tag ‘thought leader’, because more often than not most content creators couldn’t be further from the truth, but my company has allowed me to do it my way and give my unfiltered opinion. I just write the way I talk, and often blur the lines of what’s professional and acceptable for the platform, but that has worked for me. I wouldn’t do it if I couldn’t be myself.

What has been the hardest part of making the leap?

Making a start, staying consistent and finding my own voice was the hardest thing when making the leap. I struggled with gaining traction and finding things that others would care about. When I changed my mindset from worrying about what others want and started writing about things I wanted to read, things started to click.

A lot of my content is opinion driven, where I share personal observations or thoughts about the market, people or trends, and sometimes my strong stance on things rubs people the wrong way.

What have been the key outcomes for you?

Creating a great social network has done a lot for my career. Outside the obvious of gaining new business, advertising and getting access to a wider network, the biggest thing it has done for me is that it’s allowed me to grow and learn through my network. I have done this by asking questions to my network and getting their different opinions.

I have been with SMAART for seven years and before that I managed cafes, so I have only been taught the SMAART way of thinking and working when it comes to recruitment and business. When you are in the same bubble with the same people, sometimes it’s hard to think and work in different ways so it has been great for that.

Thank you Will for answering my questions and sharing a bit about your personal branding journey.

I recommend following Will. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to answer any questions you might want to ask him.

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Please tune in for the next article where I will be writing about a legendary recruiter who has been creating value-adding content that sets them apart from most recruiters I know.