How to Get Serious About Employer Branding Before Attending Recruiting Events

Every recruitment event has an element of employer branding, but it’s vital that your brand dazzles prospects during a diverse hiring event. Here are some tips to ensure your employer brand shines through so the people you’re recruiting see your company for the innovative place to work it is!

Get Excited. 

It’s fine to have suggestions about how to make the workplace better, but an authentic voice who is excited about the company will attract more prospects than a mopey, disengaged recruiter. Don’t have any engaged recruiters? Explore that a little bit. Do they have a say in what kind of gifts they’re giving away? The application suite they use while on the road? Do your diversity or campus recruiters have a direct line to the head of talent acquisition or are their suggestions routed elsewhere (or completely ignored)? These are the folks that are on the road for much of the year. It’s worth it to give them a say in how they attract new recruits.

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Support the message.

If you attend three diversity recruiting events every year, but your website, career ads and employer brand messaging don’t support that diversity recruitment initiative, you might be shooting yourself in the foot. Your company values, mission and commitment to diversity should be disseminated throughout your employees, proclaimed loudly on your recruitment messaging and you should be able to see that commitment to diversity in imagery, staff and digital.

They see you.

A prospect who is looking for a company like yours wants to know how other employees experience your company. This means, they are actively checking sites like FairyGodBoss, GlassDoor and other employer review sites. If you are not actively monitoring and responding to reviews about your work environment, engaging with candidates who have opinions about your process and ensuring you follow-up with both positive and negative reviews, you might miss out on people who crave that kind of engagement.

Use This Packing Checklist!

Not every event is going to be in your hometown. Make sure you have these recruiting event essentials before you go!

ロ The Booth! It’s not enough to have a simple sign or flyer at your fold out table anymore. If you want top students, diversity candidates and veterans to flock to your table, invest in a lightweight booth that is visually compelling. Your recruitment event team will thank you if it’s easy to set up as well!

ロ Information. Yes, of course, you should have information on your company and openings. But have you considered that your targeted audiences (diversity recruits, college students and veteran jobseekers) might also want to check out the details of the associated programs? If you’re headed out without detailed, specific information about your programs, you might be missing an opportunity to maximize your time at a recruitment event. In addition, make sure you bring information about the industry. Remember, nearly everyone wants to impact the world they live in, so show how your company is doing that to inspire applicants.

ロ FAQs.When a candidate is considering applying for a job, they want to know the nitty-gritty. How long will it take? Will their 30-minute conversation with a recruiter in your booth push them to the top of the pile? What are the metrics on getting a job at your company? When can they expect to hear back? Are there deadlines they need to be aware of? All of these questions are appropriate to ask at a recruiting event. Ensure your recruiters are ready and willing to answer them!

ロ FaceTime. Not the application, real face time. Why do you think candidates attend a recruiting event? The answer is because they are serious about finding a company that reflects their values, they want to see if they “fit in” and they’re hoping for an IRL connection. Give that to them. If you’re just handing out brochures and a URL, you’re wasting time and money at these events. Absolutely, have a recruiting platform designed for events, but make sure it’s accompanied by a friendly and informative discussion.

ロ Vision. When you exhibit at a recruiting event, you’re there to give prospects an idea of what it’s like working at your company. Help your recruiters paint a picture of a day in the life of your most pressing jobs.

Note: Make sure to show off the jobs people might not associate with your company, as those can be the hardest to fill.

ロ The Fun Stuff. It’s possible to attend a recruiting event without swag, but we don’t recommend it. Make sure it’s easy to transfer (or have it shipped) and relatively inexpensive if you plan on giving out a lot of them. Another way to keep people interested in your company, is to have people enter a raffle for a larger prize. This way, even if they don’t fill out an application, you can follow up with them post-event.

ロ Recruitment Event Software and a tablet or laptop. Most people are not going to fill out your 5 page application and let’s face it, some recruiting admin or you, is going to have to re-input all that data later anyway. Equip yourself with recruitment software designed for events and an easy way to fill it out. Even if your target candidates don’t want to type all their information out, you can help them by getting the basics and following up to get additional information later. Or by simply allowing them to input their information through Oleeos iPad app!