When you tuck into bed to scroll on TikTok, it stands to reason you’re hoping to zone out to Sabrina Carpenter’s new single, perhaps, and generally think about anything but work.

But could a future job candidate be lurking on your For You page, as well? Some companies are betting that they can connect with potential talent through non-traditional channels like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.

Developing content for such channels is a natural extension of businesses’ employer branding, which in turn ties into their recruitment efforts, experts told HR Brew.

Brand recognition. Over the last decade or so, “there has been a real evolution” to focus on the “employee experience” when developing an employer brand, rather than how the general public perceives the company, said Adam Stafford, CEO of the recruitment marketing firm Recruitics. When thinking about their “employee value proposition,” companies now try to give prospective employees an idea of what it’s like to work at their firm.

These efforts to craft more authentic employee value propositions accelerated during the “war for talent” that followed the Covid-19 pandemic, as businesses scrambled to keep up with hiring demand. But even as the labor market has slowed, they’ve held on, because “candidates actually are demanding a more accurate representation of the employee experience,” he added.

A recent survey from job platform Handshake shows college graduates, in particular, are seeking out authentic representations of prospective employers online. One respondent reported they watched “day in the life” videos to get a sense of a company’s “work culture” and “work-life balance,” and 73% of the graduates Handshake surveyed said they’d be more likely to apply for a job after seeing content such as videos or messages from an employer.

The relationship between employer brand and talent acquisition comes up in almost every conversation Handshake’s Monne Williams has with clients in her job advising CHROs and senior talent professionals on how to recruit early-career talent.

“They know that they need to stand out to the types of talent that they’re trying to get in front of,” said Williams, Handshake’s chief impact officer. This means they’re considering “how to make their brand seem different [from] another brand, even if that company has the same types of roles.”

In some cases, getting in front of the right talent means employers need to diversify the channels where they share information about working for the company, said Cori Lunnen, VP of recruitment marketing operations with recruitment marketing agency HireClix.

“You need to go beyond job boards and focus on those other channels, especially with this upcoming generation,” she said. “They’re wanting to really understand what the values are of a company before they go to work there.”

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