Employer branding in recruitment: start with the role

Most employers can say something positive about an open role. The harder test is whether the advert says anything specific.

Consider a typical draft: You will make an impact, develop your skills and join a supportive team. Remove the company name and almost any employer could publish it. A candidate still cannot tell what they would own or walk into.

This is where employer branding in recruitment becomes useful. Your employer brand is the impression people form of you as a place to work. Employer branding is the work you do to shape that impression. The message must still reflect the job and daily working life.

Define the job before choosing channels or polishing copy.

Get nine answers before you write the advert

Open a blank document and complete these lines with the hiring manager:

• We are hiring because...
• In the first 6–12 months, success will look like...
• This person can decide... but needs approval for...
• A normal working week includes...
• The hardest part of the job, or the part that still needs building, is...
• The team, manager and available resources are...
• The location, on-site expectations, hours, travel and salary range are...
• The three things someone must already be able to do are... Everything else can be learned.
• The process has these stages... and candidates will hear from us by...

These answers give the hiring team a shared description of the job. If one stakeholder expects maintenance while another expects a transformation, resolve that before writing the advert.

Then ask why the right person would move now. The answer should come from the work, not a generic growth story.

Replace attractive claims with useful evidence

An employer branding strategy often loses its value when a real vacancy is reduced to adjectives. Flexible, fast-moving and high-impact sound promising, but every candidate has to interpret them for themselves.

Try the Monday test. If you cannot explain what a claim looks like on an ordinary Monday, it is not ready for a recruitment campaign.

Consider a software company hiring an experienced specialist to modernise an ageing platform.

The vague version says: You will shape our technical direction and build modern solutions.

A useful version says: During your first six months, you will map the current platform and recommend what to replace first. You will make technical choices with the product lead and have two internal developers supporting delivery. Some older systems must remain in use during the transition.

The second version gives candidates something to assess: the goal, authority, support and constraint. It may persuade the right person to keep reading or help someone else rule the role out.

Check the message with someone outside the hiring team

Give the draft to a colleague who does not know the vacancy. After two minutes, ask why the person is being hired, what they need to achieve and what makes the job difficult.

If the answers are missing, add information before buying reach. A recruitment campaign distributes the message it receives. It cannot fill gaps in the role.

The same rule applies to the process. Tell people what the stages are and when they can expect an update. If the timetable changes, say so. Candidates compare the promises in the advert with the way the recruitment is handled.

Use campaign numbers as clues

Good campaign measurement helps you locate a problem. It does not produce a single score for employer brand strength.

If the advert receives impressions but few clicks, check whether the audience, targeting and opening promise match the role. If people reach the role page but do not start an application, look for missing information or an unclear next step. If many people start but few finish, inspect the application journey. If applications arrive but rarely meet the three requirements agreed in advance, revisit the audience, requirements and message.

Change one thing at a time and look for a pattern. Reach, clicks and application volume cannot show whether the role was described accurately. The later test is whether the new hire recognises the responsibilities, authority and challenges presented during recruitment.

Is the role ready for a campaign?

If the nine lines are difficult to complete, pause and define the job with the hiring team. If the answers are clear and supported by the reality of the workplace, you have the raw material for the advert, shorter campaign messages and interview conversations.

Choose the method after that. If you are unsure whether an open campaign is enough, read Headhunting or job advertising: which one should you choose?

If you want help turning a hard-to-fill role into a focused message for the right candidate audience and a measurable campaign, explore reQruitz Recruitment Marketing.

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