How employer branding can widen your talent pool of developers and technologists

Employer branding is the most effective way to not only build relationships with candidates for hard-to-fill positions like software developers and engineers, but also engage with a larger audience of future tech talent. A strong employer brand can be what helps your company stand out in a sea of options, especially considering the intense competition for tech talent.

Here are five ways that employer branding can help widen your talent pool of technologists:

1. Attract the tech talent who align with your company culture. Your employer brand is a reflection of your company mission, vision and values. By promoting the attributes your company finds most important, your strengths, you can attract candidates who share those same attributes and are more likely to be a cultural fit for your organization. This often leads to more engaged and motivated employees, which can ultimately promote higher retention rates.
2. Speak their language. Engineer-driven company blogs allow your current developers to speak to your potential future tech talent – and do it in a language that they understand and can connect with. This is user-generated content (UGC) and is considered company media that supports your overall brand. And candidates actually want it, we found in our 2022 Stack Overflow Knows survey: The most popular resources developers use to find out about future employers after their personal network are company reviews (41%), other media (34%), and company media (33%). An example of a company with a great engineer-driven blog is Etsy’s Code as Craft Blog, check it out.
3. Showcase your company's unique selling points. Employer branding can help showcase the unique selling points of your organization. For example, you may offer flexible working arrangements, a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, or a company culture that values learning and development. In practice, one way to do this is through Stack Overflow Company Pages. They allow employers to share company updates, perks and benefits, tech stack, videos and photos of team members, and even highlight developers’ projects. Millions of technologists visit our public platform every month, which means you’re reaching a wide audience of candidates. Take a look at our own Stack Overflow Company Page here.
4. Create a positive candidate experience. A strong employer brand can also help create a positive candidate experience, which can be important in attracting top technologists. By treating candidates with respect and providing clear communication throughout the hiring process, you can create a positive impression of your organization, even for candidates who don't end up getting the job. This can help build a healthy talent pipeline, as candidates who have a favorable experience are more likely to refer others to your organization.
5. Develop a reputation as an employer of choice for technologists. This can be especially important in attracting passive tech talent, who may not actively be looking for a new job but are open to new opportunities if the right one comes along. By promoting your employer brand through social media, employee and user generated content, and other channels, consistently over a long period of time you can build a strong reputation that can help attract top technologists to your organization.

Even through economic fluctuations, the need for skilled knowledge workers to build technology remains. Employer branding, through an always-on approach, is an effective way to attract qualified tech talent, keep your hiring funnel active, and reach highly skilled candidates that may not be actively seeking a new job. By broadening your reach specifically into channels where technologists spend their time, your pool of candidates can grow organically as tech talent connects with your brand on both a personal and professional level.