What comes to mind when you consider the most compelling brands? Without a doubt, titans like Apple or Nike spring up. What sets them apart? What makes a brand any more compelling to prospective employees than another, and what can you do to make your brand stand out?

According to HBR, a bad reputation costs a company at least 10% more per hire. So how much does a company’s reputation as a place to work — its employer brand — really matter when it comes to hiring?

We distil the ABCs of employer branding below.

Articulate your brand

Compelling brands are impactful. They possess a strong brand identity that translates well to capture people’s hearts and minds. This includes a clearly defined vision, corporate values, and market position. Clear articulation of your brand identity gives shape and substance to the company and its culture. This communicates to prospective employees what working for your organization is like and draws like-minded talent to you!

Using the Wantedly platform, companies are better equipped to showcase their brand identity. Companies fill in their profile pages with a three-tiered structure- “What we do, Why we do, How we do”, to explain their unique brand stories in detail. The profile page is also replete with photos of staff and connected to their members’ individual profiles, so talents can have a truly up-close and personal understanding of the company!

Be authentic

Beyond a well-crafted brand identity, strong brands have unique stories that set them apart from others. They possess personality and character that are distinct and memorable. There is a human quality to their narratives that resonates with their target audience. Consider Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, Mastercard’s Priceless, or Nike’s Just Do It campaigns. These are narratives that address real concerns by drawing on the authentic character of these brands’ purpose and identity. By communicating a clear, identifiable, and genuine message, they have etched their way firmly into our collective consciousness.

Closer to home, entrepreneurs like Turochas Fuad of Spacemob and Karl Mak of SGAG fame have shared their personal narratives on building their empire and how they hire, using the Wantedly Journal’s People feature. As Wantedly appreciates every brand’s individual story, they strive to celebrate them by routinely spotlighting the movers and shakers of onboarded companies.

Create waves

Be a disrupting force in a world of ‘business as usual’. There is a plethora of brands clamoring for visibility from prospective employees. What is your differentiating factor? Our best advice is to go the extra mile. Hold casual networking get-togethers or office visits to reach out to talents, implement a corporate social responsibility program that suits your cause, leverage the power of social networks to spread word of your brand. Think outside the box and pursue the unconventional.

Wantedly Visit was created precisely to allow employers to meet potential candidates over casual get-togethers, tea, or office tours without the high-powered pressure, expectation, or formality that interviews entail!

The Wantedly Leg-Up

Wantedly is a social recruiting platform that connects people to jobs based on shared passion, values, and ideals. The platform has over 200,000 companies onboard, including Airbnb, Buzzfeed, Dropbox, local startups like MoneySmart and Saleswhale, and is quickly expanding through the region.

It also provides employer-branding service to help brands tell their story and reach out to the right talents.

Wantedly Visit

When talents indicate an interest in a job posting, you can schedule a casual office visit to get to know the person firsthand with no strings attached. Say goodbye to traditional sit down interviews and hello to casual chats and exciting office visits!

Signing up is fuss-free. Set up your company account in 1 minute and try it out for yourself! Good news - Wantedly is offering a free first month’s trial for employers. Sign up HERE or contact us at hello.sg@wantedly.com to kickstart your recruitment drive!