Live from RecFest USA, Orlando Haynes, North American talent acquisition lead at Mosaic, joins The Chad & Cheese Podcast to share how recruiters can leverage personal branding in a volatile job market.
Orlando reveals why LinkedIn is a powerful tool for building revenue channels and visibility, offers strategic advice for job seekers post-layoffs, and explains how a strong personal brand can turn employees into authentic company ambassadors.
Don't miss this insightful episode—tune in now!
PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION
Podcast Intro: Hide your kids, lock the doors. You're listening to HR's Most Dangerous podcast. Chad Sowosh and Joel Cheesman are here to punch the recruiting industry right where it hurts. Complete with breaking news, brash opinion and loads of snark. Buckle up boys and girls, it's time for The Chad & Cheese Podcast.
Joel: So thanks for hanging out. Who are you and why are you here today?
Orlando Haynes: Yeah, so my name's Orlando Haynes. I'm here to present. It's my first time here at the event here at RecFest, so super excited for that. But I'm here to talk a little bit about personal branding for recruiters and how to support them in really leveraging their own voice, both inside and outside the corporate walls.
Joel: Are you employed? Are you a self-employed consultant?
Orlando Haynes: Nope. Yeah, so I'm a North American talent acquisition lead for a company called Mosaic based out of Florida.
Joel: Okay.
Chad: Orlando Haynes.
Orlando Haynes: Yes, sir.
Chad: That sounds like a football player.
Joel: In Florida.
Chad: That sounds like a football... Yeah. From Florida, that sounds like a football player. So Orlando, when you get a chance to actually provide somebody one nugget of advice, our listeners, people viewing this, what would that nugget be, moving forward into 2025?
Orlando Haynes: Yeah, I would probably tell you it's about personal branding. And you probably hear this a lot, but because of the market and how, you know, volatile it is, I think most employees can't just rely on the employer to generate their income, support their lifestyle. So holistically, that's how I look at it. You have this great platform, LinkedIn. So how do you leverage that to multiple opportunities for you? Simply put, you know, leverage those revenues, those revenue channels, the marketing channels, it's free platform, it's a global platform. Why not leverage it? And so my goal is to maximize my potential, thus creating opportunities internally in the company for me, and then also externally. So that's the goal, that's the vision. I would tell people to maximize on that.
Joel: Orlando, as you can tell by looking at us, we're very, very popular with the kids.
Orlando Haynes: Yeah.
[chuckle]
Joel: And a lot of young people look at LinkedIn, it's sort of intimidating, I don't have a network, I wasn't there at the beginning when everyone was just connecting to each other. What advice would you give that recent graduate in building that brand on LinkedIn? Or should it be in other places in addition to LinkedIn?
Orlando Haynes: So I would say, have intent. Understand the platform first. Don't just jump on it because you hear so called, "gurus", say, "Get on it." But understand the platform and its original use, but then knowing that it's expanded beyond that. And so, don't be fearful of technology. If we go back in the years before we had a phone, phone was created, then the cellphone, we went to microwave. So technology is always evolving and so the youth, probably, are more on the different channels. But if you think about the global reach, there's no other platform like it, where you can talk to someone that's in China, Peru, Paraguay, wherever, globally, London, in a matter of seconds. And so I would say, understand the platform, put yourself out there, but do it with intent. Don't just randomly go on there just to go on there. And some folks may not need it. There are folks who just don't need it. But it's free. Why not? Yeah.
Chad: So now in 2024, what has surprised you the most about... What's anything that's happened thus far this year?
Orlando Haynes: So I would say, recruiting has not changed a bit.
Chad: Yeah?
Orlando Haynes: And so...
Chad: And that's surprising.
Orlando Haynes: And that's surprising. You would think it has. Even from the agency side... My background, for 20 years, is both, agency and in the corporate side. And so we're still in that midst of antiquated thinking theology, especially also from the corporate space, in how we attack recruiting overall. So the goal is, what we can do to leverage that. And there's a lot of talk about technology, and so we're getting away from still how do we capture the people. And so if we can bridge that gap between employers and tech, and how to really service the people, then we're shaking and moving at that point. So those are the biggest changes I would hope we see. But right now, it's not turning as fast as I would like.
Chad: Did you get that, shaking?
Joel: I got that, that was good. He's good. He's good. He must be a branding expert. Layoffs are in the headlines every day. A lot of people are facing the employment market for the first time in a long time. They're looking at LinkedIn, they know they should use it, but not really sure exactly what I should be doing. What do you tell them?
Orlando Haynes: So you have to approach anything like that with the strategy. And I think that's where a lot of job seekers don't know, especially if you've been working for 10 plus years, you never had to go back in the market. And so things have changed. And so you need a strategy to approach any job search. And sometimes in this market, job search becomes the job itself. And so if you get hyper focused, and you folks probably hear it as well, there's nothing worse than the job seeker saying, "Hey, I'll take anything." That's... They're talking from desperation, at that point, versus reassessing what happened, reclaiming their intellectual intelligence from previous companies that they worked for, and really hyper focus. I know there's a lot of coaches like myself that are out there as well, and so they're a little leery too. Because you never know. But I would say, if they can invest in a coach, again, so they can get the proper tools and strategies to be specific in their search. And this way... It's going to take time too.
Orlando Haynes: You have to map that out and understand this may not be the last cycle we see like this. So now, you know, prepare for future, but have a really hyper focused plan that'll support your journey.
Chad: 2025 is coming up on us fast. What's your number one priority?
Orlando Haynes: You know what? I'm gonna double down on personal branding. It's the reason why I'm sitting in the seat with you guys here. First time here, submitted my request to be a speaker. And I'm here, I speak tomorrow. But that only would have happened... It wouldn't have happened if I didn't have a personal brand. So they looked at me, see what I was talking about, see my reach, and say, "Okay. Hey, you have a voice and what you're saying makes sense", so again, I don't position myself to only depend on the employer. Because we're talking about layoffs and you've seen it happen in the tech space. It happened in the recruitment space. And so how do I position myself to avoid the onslaught? So it's multiple streams. I'm secure either way. But the goal is that's... I think that's the hyper focus, I think, we need to look at. But it's not for everybody. But I would urge someone to tap into multiple talents that they have. They're not a one-talent or one-pony trick, we have multiple talents; leverage those anyway you can.
Joel: A lot of companies have the tendency, or employers have the tendency of, sort of, bottling up their employees.
Orlando Haynes: Yep.
Joel: Like, "Don't be on LinkedIn. I don't want you to get poached by someone. I don't want you to talk about your job on Instagram." I feel like that's loosening up. But what do you tell the company that has employees that are great brand ambassadors, that are out there on social media? What do you tell that company that is genetically fearful of that world? Why should they embrace it?
Orlando Haynes: So that's the toughest question. But there was an article put out by LinkedIn by, I think, Dan Roth or Danny Roth, it said, Rise of the creator employee, which spoke directly to that. And the benefit of if you have multiple employees with multiple brand, you know, good personal brand, inadvertently people are going to see where they work, land on their page and see opportunities. Because I want to work with a company that I can see the ins and outs. Great that you have this great new widget, new software, new tech, that's fine. But what's a day in the life? What is it like behind the walls?
Orlando Haynes: And I think, through personal branding, you can share, "Hey, we're not perfect. But this is what the culture really looks like." And again, by that saying, "Okay, the company's allowing employees to do this", like, "Wow, they're allowing, they're tapping into my creativity? Like, that's a company I want to partner with." And so I would say it's such an antiquated thought process right from the higher ups. And so they really need to look at the value proposition that this is creating. And so if companies can create little media teams to advocate for, and better their marketing strategies, it's not going to hurt. It's not going to hurt. As long as it's on brand etc., I don't see any negative behind it. As long as you got the right people. Yeah.
Chad: Orlando says it's good for your brand. Orlando, somebody wants to connect with you, where would you send them?
Orlando Haynes: Yep. They can come straight to LinkedIn, Orlando Haynes. Or connect with me on my website, careertalkspodcast.com.
Chad: Excellent.
Joel: Thanks for hanging out. Enjoy the rest of your time in Nashville.
Chad: Orlando Haynes.
Orlando Haynes: Appreciate it, gentlemen.
Podcast Outro: Wow, look at you. You made it through an entire episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast. Or maybe you cheated and fast forwarded to the end. Either way, there's no doubt you wish you had that time back. Valuable time you could have used to buy a nutritious meal at Taco Bell, enjoy a pour of your favorite whiskey, or just watch Big Booty Latinas and bug fights on TikTok. No, you hung out with these two chuckleheads instead. Now go take a shower and wash off all the guilt. But save some soap, because you'll be back. Like an awful train wreck, you can't look away. And like Chad's favorite Western, you can't quit them either. We out.