On-Brand Hiring: The Most Underrated Marketing Channel
Thousands apply to every advertised role. Don't waste the opportunity to create a powerful on-brand experience, hired or not.
When your hiring process contradicts your values, candidates aren't just passive observers, they're active storytellers. Best case: they silently write you off. Worst case: they tell everyone.
All those hours, resources, and $$$ invested in crafting your brand—purpose, vision, positioning, values, voice, identity, experience, guidelines, culture—only to flush it down the loo 🚽 with one generic, off-brand ATS (Applicant Tracking System) email.
What a missed opportunity to turn a vulnerable moment into a powerful, on-brand experience. Hiring isn’t just a transaction—it’s your most intimate conversation with potential & future team members. With brand experience and brand building such a high priority, why are brands failing at on-brand hiring?
It’s a brutal job market right now. You quite literally have the chance to turn hundreds of thousands of candidates into brand ambassadors.
100,000s Brand Touch Points
In the past year, the creative world has been hit hard. UK ad agencies saw redundancies double, creeping up from 3.4% to 6.9%.
Maureen Wiley Clough shares that companies have become masters of "quiet firing," using return-to-office (RTO) mandates as a stealth weapon to cull their workforce.
The tech sector? A bloodbath. Crunchbase tells a brutal story: 95,000 tech workers laid off in 2024, with cuts continuing into 2025. Silicon Valley's shine is looking lacklustre.
And then there's the elephant in the room: ageism. Apparently, 40 is the new "over the hill" in corporate logic, according to Harvard Business Review. It seems experience, wisdom, and sector knowledge expire faster than unpasteurised cow dairy. If you’re over 40, you’re OUT.
With 100,000s looking for jobs right now, there are literally hundreds of thousands of opportunities to deliver a positive brand experience, hired or not. But brands are killing their own brand story with impersonal, dehumanising, DEI-unfriendly and inconsistent hiring processes.
How Recruitment Builds Your Brand Story
My road to this insight? My transition from consulting to full-time employment, revealing the untapped power of hiring as a brand's most intimate storytelling moment.
Kindness is recruitment's low-hanging fruit. But turning hiring into a full-blown brand narrative? That's where the magic happens—the difference between a polite interaction and a story I can’t stop sharing.
Entrepreneurial Spark, business accelerator, took it to the next level. The process, led by CEO Mike Stephens himself, was flawless. It literally blew. my. mind. Here’s how it went down.
First Interview Challenge: Presentation (7 mins)
Structure, format and selection criteria was explicit and labelled ‘interview preparation essentials’. He specified:
Technical & Personal Fit: 50/50 split between technical skills and personal mindset/ Know the role requirements/ Understand our mission and values
Case Study Presentation (7 minutes): Showcase a marketing campaign you led. Highlight: Design and delivery approach/ Strategic alignment/ Team engagement/ Campaign ROI
Our Evaluation: We want the real you, not a polished persona/ Show your authentic spark/ Be open to challenges/ Demonstrate why you and this role are a perfect match
Second Interview Challenge: Team Meeting Presentation (5-10 mins)
Again, structure, format and selection criteria was explicit. He specified:
Hypothetical Business Objectives (Next 6 Months): Program Contract Renewal/ Expand to 4 New Sectors/ Re-launch A Program in Q2 2025
Presentation Focus: Develop a strategic team meeting agenda/ Demonstrate understanding of business goals/ Show collaborative leadership approach/ Highlight cross-team coordination strategies
Evaluation: Expect probing questions about your agenda/ Demonstrate strategic thinking/ Show ability to align team efforts with broader business objectives
Final Decision: Phone Call From CEO Mike Stephens
Mike didn't just reject me—he delivered a masterclass in humane hiring. A personal call, a breakdown of my strengths, and the raw honesty that sometimes great opportunities are just victim to geography. Rejection never felt so professionally dignified and, well… ok.
Entrepreneurial Spark turns hiring into a human-first storytelling experience, where transparency, authenticity, and respect aren't just words—they're the entire plot.
Even though I didn't join their team, they've won me over completely, transforming a moment of rejection into a brand experience I rave about. Case in point.
A few more examples:
Gemma McGeary doesn't just recruit; she cultivates relationships. Her consistent touch points, thoughtful feedback, and genuine connection transform the typically transactional recruitment journey into a meaningful extension of the Omnicom Media Group brand.
Sophie Holt embodies proactive (EB) employer branding in action. By initiating a LinkedIn connection, promptly scheduling a discovery call, and—crucially—circling back within a month for a status update, she demonstrated that Gleeson Recruitment Group values long-term relationships over quick transactions.
Steve Adamany's approach elevates headhunting from mere talent acquisition to a full brand activation. An in-depth hour exploring not just skills but aspirations signals a person & company that sees candidates as whole humans, not just resources. His comprehensive approach transforms a potentially impersonal process into a powerful brand touchpoint for SynergyDirect LLC.
These demonstrate one extreme. Let’s talk about the other.
How Recruitment Kills Your Brand Story
Imagine discovering that a brand you admire, one that also screams their DEI/ D&I ambition from the rooftops, actually treats candidates in a way that feels anything but inclusive.
That's exactly what happened in my recent experience with a global, mission-driven FinTech Scaleup, revealing a fascinating disconnect between a brand’s words & actions.
I wrote to them with suggestion for making their hiring process more DEI-friendly. I shared my experience of inconsistent interviewing and unclear selection criteria, and their response was telling: "I'm truly sorry that your interview process didn't meet the high standard of experience we aim to provide," replied the Global Head of Talent.
This acknowledgment reveals the gap between intention and execution that many brands struggle with.
Rejection is the moment of brand truth. When the FinTech company sent a rejection email claiming they "ultimately had to prioritise a few candidates with either direct experience at competitor companies or substantial global experience," despite my CV jam-packed with both, it exposed a complete disconnect between their stated DEI/ D&I ambitions, their hiring process, and the candidate experience.
Frankly, it's a brand identity crisis playing out.
From job description to initial screening chat to rejection email, they destroyed their brand as easily as burning toast. Their brand is now in my trash, alongside the charred remains of toast 🍞
Brand Integrity Is On The Line
Each person who experiences this disconnect becomes a walking story about your brand's authenticity.
When I received that carefully worded response acknowledging they "could have done better," it was clear this wasn't just about fixing an HR process, but also clear they have no idea their brand integrity is on the line.
So how do brands turn their brand strategy, story, positioning and messaging into an on-brand hiring experience?
Simple… re-imagine each hiring stage as an opportunity to express your authentic brand identity, essence & story.
Introducing…
🚀 The On-Brand Hiring Audit 🚀
There’s a free fillable checklist with your name on it right here.
Map the candidate journey
Revise your brand values
Make it fair for everyone
Listen to candidates’ experiences
Check your words
Before we jump into the nitty gritty of the audit itself, there’s a few foundational elements to get acquainted with so you can hit the ground running:
1. Articulate Selection Criteria Upfront
The job description is your brand's first promise to potential team members.
When crafting these, true brand authenticity means clearly articulating the genuine selection criteria upfront.
If global experience is a dealbreaker, say so explicitly.
If competitor experience is what you're after, make it a stated requirement.
As the FinTech company acknowledged in their response to me, confirmed they needed to:
"align our selection criteria with the job description upfront, so candidates clearly understand how their experience will be evaluated."
2. Ask Everyone The Same Core Questions
The initial screening chat represents your brand's ability to listen and value others.
My experience highlighted how easily this goes wrong when interviews aren't structured to gather consistent insights. Without exploring my experience relevant to the selection criteria, how could they possibly evaluate my fit for the role?
A brand that truly values inclusion designs interviews that give every candidate equal opportunity to showcase relevant strengths, which means asking the same core questions about key competencies of everyone.
3. Clear + Transparent Selection Criteria
The evaluation process reflects your brand's commitment to fairness, and whether it truly lives its values across all touch points.
The selection criteria should be transparent, consistently applied, and directly tied to job success.
Ensuring structured, role-relevant questions that assess key competencies consistently across all candidates is essential.
4. Create A Feedback Loop
The feedback loop demonstrates your brand's authenticity and respect. Even rejection can be a positive brand touchpoint when handled with transparency and compassion.
When the FinTech company acknowledged in their response that "the feedback provided in your rejection email may not have reflected the full scope of your qualifications," they were recognising how damaging misaligned rejection feedback can be to brand perception.
What makes a proactive feedback loop so powerful is that it transforms recruitment from a mere talent-filtering mechanism into a genuine expression of brand essence. When your hiring process truly reflects your claimed values, you're not just finding the right people, you're bringing your brand story to life at every touch point.
Back to the nitty gritty of the On-Brand Hiring Audit…
🚀 The On-Brand Hiring Audit 🚀
Don’t forget there’s a free workbook with your name on it right here.
You can build a very simple audit step by step.
— 1: Map the Candidate Journey
You have a user/buyer journey; now it’s time to map the candidate journey. For example:
See job ad
Send application
Get first response
Have first interview
Have second interview
Receive decision
Get feedback
Bonus: Ask These Questions:
How long does each step take?
Who talks to the candidate at each step?
What does the candidate learn about your company at each step?
— 2: Revise Your Brand Values
Revise your brand values as they relate to an on-brand hiring experience. For example:
Being fair to everyone
Being honest
Being kind
Respecting differences
Helping people grow
Bonus: Ask These Questions
Does this step show we really care about these values?
Would someone feel our values during this step?
What might make someone feel we don't really believe in our values?
— 3: Make Sure It's Fair for Everyone
Look for potential problems in the process. For example, ask:
Are we asking everyone the same questions in interviews?
Are we giving everyone the same amount of time?
Are we judging everyone using the same rules?
Could something make it harder for certain people to succeed?
Bonus: Troubleshoot
Write down any problems you find and how you'll fix them.
— 4: Listen to Candidates's Experiences
Ask for Feedback: Create a super simple form that asks:
Did you feel respected during our hiring process?
Was everything clear about what we were looking for?
Did you get enough information about the job?
What could we do better next time?
Bonus points:
Collect candidate stories. Ask people who applied (even those who didn't get hired) to share their experience.
— 5: Check Your Story, Message + Copy
Look at your words. Collect all the emails, job descriptions, and feedback you send to people. Are they on-brand? For example, ask:
Do they sound like your brand values?
Are they clear & honest?
Do they help people feel good, even if you didn’t hire them?
Bonus: Fix your templates
Rewrite any messages that don't match your values
🍒 Making It Better: Your Action Plan 🍒
Pick the biggest problem you found
Write down exactly how you'll fix it
Decide who will make the change
Set a date to check if it's working
Share what you learned with everyone involved in the hiring process, including your brand & marketing teams
Don’t Botch Your Brand Story
The recruitment process isn't just an HR function, it's a powerful brand touchpoint that most brands completely ignore.
When people feel good about how you treated them during hiring—even if they didn't get the job—they tell others good things about your company.
That means on-brand hiring isn’t just a respectful, human thing to do, it’s also a strategic imperative.
💜
Typos are my way of checking that you're paying attention—or proof that my brain moves faster than my fingers. (Jury's still out.)
💜 Brandlust is currently free. Consider liking and sharing this post with your friends and colleagues to support my work. Thank you. 💜
Your sub-par hiring experience comes through strongly here. Good on you for turning it into something positive with a solution mindset and a practical kit to help others 💜