Employer Branding: Is it becoming Information Overload for Jobseekers?

Despite all the effort recruiters put into branding, there's a growing disconnect between candidates' perceptions of the organisations they're applying to and the reality, says Gartner talent advisor Dion Love in a recent Shortlist article. 

In today's spoilt for choice job market, there's no denying that it's a "golden era to be a candidate". There's more available information, lower 'transaction' costs associated with applying for roles, and more overall job opportunities. 

According to Love, organisations assume that providing more information to candidates improves visibility into what it's like to work in an organisation, when it actually leads to information overload.

Information overload problems start before individuals even become applicants, he says, including the stage of researching for a job hunt.

Information overload is also linked to "how companies are branding and specifically how they are engaging candidates," Love says.

A separate piece of Gartner research shows that S&P 100 company taglines – such as those found on careers pages or employment branding material – all fall into five categories, he says.

This is the years-long result of organisations refining and doubling down on employer branding, "as we now all know what candidates want to hear", Love explains. "All those years of research have certainly paid off; the problem is now that everybody sounds the same."

As a result, candidates are now ignoring these branding messages, including some of the most important messages organisations are aiming at critical talent.

So what's a business to do?

Remedies to this problem do exist if companies can get their signal through the noise by providing direct, personal value to their messaging and engagement strategy, Love says.

While an online presence is important, another focus for business should be employee reviews. Recent research from Indeed shows about 46% of jobseekers agreed they would not apply for a position if a company had no employee reviews online. The survey also found company reviews are more valuable to jobseekers than a company's own website when deciding to apply for a role.

If you're a jobseeker looking for a new opportunity & want to ensure the values of the next business you choose to work for align to your own, get in touch with the Stopgap Consultants to learn more about the clients we work with! We're big advocates for making sure our candidates find the right company 'fit'!