Career Distinction:

Hire People Who Stand Out By Building A Personal Brand

So you've got to fill an open position. The only problem is hundreds of other people are going for the same job. So how do you pick the best stand-out candidate?

William Arruda says the answer is personal branding.

Arruda, a personal branding expert and author of Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand, is this week's guest on Salary Talk, and tells Aaron and Wendy the fastest way to figure out who will separate himself from the pack is to identify the candidate who has figured out who they are, what they're good at and does a bang up job of maximizing their strengths. While most people think of branding as creating a fake image, Arruda says the key to personal branding is "permission to be yourself" and authenticity.

Look beyond the jobseekers who simply tell you their job titles and expect that to be enough to get them noticed, Arruda says. Avoid potential employees who treat themselves like replaceable commodities, and seek out the people who revel in their strengths and individuality. These are the employees who will give you the best results.

Employers should continue to perform rudimentary Google searches on all candidates, but Arruda said it is important to determine if the applicant is aware of the information about himself that's online. An exemplary job candidate will know what information is out there and how to manage it and present it in the best possible light. Furthermore, make sure the person you hire is just as active crafting his offline persona as on the Internet.

Stop hiring the people who blend into the background and don't shy away from the people who know how to stand out and go after what they want.

Connect with Today's Guest: Discover more about William Arruda. You can purchase a copy of Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand or visit www.williamarruda.com and www.reachpersonalbranding.com to view more of William's work. You can also connect with him on Twitter (@williamarruda).