Job fairs, conferences, hackathons, meet-ups, lectures … Recently, I have been observing more and more initiatives on the Krakow labor market that allow companies to build an employer brand. Both as recruiters and people responsible for employer branding we keep asking ourselves the same question: Is it worth it? What events to take part in to create an attractive image of the company among potential candidates? There are so many of them that without having a specific strategy, planning specific initiatives can be quite a problem.
How to do it to choose the most effective ones? Which of them will ultimately translate into building a good brand? And finally – which will translate into more qualitative applications?
Each event has completely different characteristics and a lot depends on how many and what candidates we are looking for. Below, I have prepared a list of selected events along with a simple analysis of benefits in terms of employer brandind.
Employer branding strategy: where is it worth appearing?
Job fairs
Probably the most popular form of promotion that allows companies to present their offer – usually aimed at students and candidates for junior positions. In my opinion, their strength lies primarily in the ability to build brand awareness on the market. Both the presence at the event in the form of stands and the presentation of companies in promotional materials have a positive effect on the company’s visibility.
The downside of the fair is undoubtedly the fact that we do not control who will appear at the event. The organizers often tempt us with large numbers of participants, but many times they are random people interested in free gadgets. In most cases, the fair is open to everyone, so we can expect both young people interested in looking for their first job, but on the other hand – we have no influence on the competences of the interested parties. Although the flow of CVs after such an event is large, they are not high-quality applications. Especially in IT, the “best” candidates often start their first job very early, and they simply don’t have time to participate in fairs.
Hackathons
Hackathons are a kind of contests for programmers. They consist of creating software that is based on a chosen theme – for example, designing an application that solves a specific problem. Such events are usually organized by universities or companies, therefore there are two possibilities of using their potential in employer branding activities. On the one hand, companies can organize such events themselves, and on the other – be a partner of hackathons taking place, for example, at universities.
The strong point of hackathons is attracting talented and ambitious students who are not afraid of intensives, often all-night work. Therefore, we can expect that the participants are in fact a well-chosen target group and characterized by their strong commitment to operating in IT.
On the other hand, there will usually be fewer of them due to the selection and the limited number of places. A good result can be achieved by promoting the hackathon partners in social media and mentoring the participants. However, I advise against placing a typical recruitment stand on the event – students who come to the hackathon fully focus on programming, do not think about recruitment interviews. In such events, the involvement of technical people works best – thanks to their knowledge and experience, they can support the participants, which at the same time builds a good image of the company.
Industry conferences
Conferences such as Devoxx or Geecon are happy the growing interest of both participants and companies that are partners of these events. This type of cooperation is a very effective way to increase brand recognition. On the one hand, such conferences have a large promotional budget (not only in social media, but often also outdoor advertising). Thanks to this, they allow you to reach a huge number of recipients, but with a very shallow message – usually in the form of placing your logo on posters and other promotional materials. Although this increases brand awareness, unfortunately the message ends only with remembering the brand. Candidates rarely apply for a position just because they recognize the company.
Another downside is the very divergent profiles of conference participants – usually specialists from various fields take part in it and it is associated with a relatively low translation into applications. Many times, some conference participants do not even live in the country where the event takes place – this also reduces the pool of potential candidates.
Other examples of employer branding activities
Meet-ups
Meet-ups are thematic meetings organized by companies or other institutions operating in the field of a selected technology. They are usually run in an informal atmosphere, often in places that are not directly associated with work – for example in bars. From the point of view of employer branding, the advantage of meet-ups is to bring together programmers interested in a specific topic. During the speeches of specialists, you can learn more about technologies or solutions used by other companies.
The characteristics of meetups are opposite to conferences or fairs – the audience is relatively small, but the profile of participants is very well defined. Thanks to the organization of such events, the company can be associated with a narrow specialization, which has a positive effect on the image and recruitment of experts in specific fields. Meetups are also a great opportunity for companies to present themselves from a less official side. The form of the event itself is conducive to showing your culture and establishing business relations.
Lectures for students
A great form of building an employer brand among young people are the organization of additional lectures at universities. Working with student organizations, you can prepare them quickly and with little financial outlay. It is enough to choose one of the employees who will prepare a catchy speech. It is worth consulting the topic with students in advance so that it relates to classes at the university. An experienced programmer will be able to efficiently supplement students’ knowledge with practical solutions that are often missing in their classes.
Such employer branding activity has the fewest weaknesses and is associated with very good results at relatively low costs. However, two aspects should be kept in mind: checking the attendance of lecture participants and controlling the quality of the material. Students will associate the company with the lecturer for a long time, therefore mistakes cannot be allowed.
