Making The Most Out Of Your Talent Brand In The Interview

Most everyone has heard of branding when it comes to your company, and we all know the importance of this in regards to your marketing efforts. But what do you really know about talent branding?  

My guess is that the term “talent brand” is something that is quite new to many companies. If you want to make the most of your recruiting efforts, it’s important for you to understand what is meant when referring to talent brand.

What is your talent brand?

Your talent brand is simply the way your company is viewed by your employees and by the talent you want to recruit. In other words, what makes you so great as an employer and how are you portraying that publicly?  

Now that you know what your talent brand is, it’s time to consider how you can best maximize that brand during your interview process:  

Get Social

Most companies today are on social media, but not all companies are clearly displaying their talent brand through social media networks.  

If you want to really showcase your talent brand, you need to make sure you are doing the right things on social media. For example, you will want to show WHY someone should want to work for you by humanizing your company. You can do this by posting social media updates about not only your company brand and services, but also about the people who make up your company.  

Sharing photos of your company picnic, your team volunteering at the Special Olympics, and also posts by your employees talking about why they enjoy working for you are all examples of ways to really humanize your brand and publicly display your culture.  

Having the ability to direct candidates to your social media sites prior to the interview can greatly prepare the candidates for what to expect from your culture and talent brand beforehand.

Encourage your Team to get Social

Once your company is socially displaying its talent brand, it’s time that you encourage your employees to get social as well.  

Urge your employees to get on LinkedIn and update their profiles to reflect their background, personal interests, jobs, and career paths within your business. This is an excellent way for candidates to research and view the types of people you have working on your team and what it takes to be successful at your company.  

Also, don’t forget to encourage your employees to like your company pages and comment on your social media posts in order to showcase an involved and collaborative culture within your company.  

When your employees are publicly recommending and sharing your content with their friends and contacts online, your talent brand is receiving a mega endorsement!    

Talk about your Brand During the Interview

A great way to maximize your talent brand during the interview is by explaining to candidates what your talent brand means to you and to your employees.  

If your company has something that causes it to stand out among the competition, share this with candidates. For example, if your company has had top talent leave a well-known and respected corporation to work for you because of the great potential within your business, share this information with your candidates.

Knowing that your company offers opportunity that is not found in other well-known businesses is a superb way to show candidates exactly what your talent brand is all about.

Showcase your Brand During the Interview

Of course, you can talk, talk, talk about your company’s talent brand until you’re blue in the face, but this will not always guarantee that you will win over top talent. Something to keep in mind is that old saying, “actions speak louder than words.” This means that you should do your best to visually SHOW candidates what your talent brand looks like during the interview.

A fantastic way to demonstrate your talent brand during the interview is by including your team members throughout the interview process. Do not try to hide your team behind closed doors by quickly rushing candidates through the office and confining your entire interview time to a small conference room before whizzing candidates through your office once again on the way out. Let your team know ahead of time that a candidate is coming in to interview and make sure that they provide a warm welcome to the candidate.

Likewise, don’t be afraid to take any serious candidates in final interview stages on an office tour. This is a great opportunity to introduce the candidate individually to key team players, allowing them some time to speak with team members one-on-one and get a good feel for why your employees are working for you.

Giving your existing employees a chance to tell candidates why they should want to work for you is a surefire way to really show off your talent brand during the interview.

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