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# Employer branding does not start with a job ad. How can you get into candidates’ minds before they start looking for a job?
- URL: https://blog-en.nelisa.com/employer-branding-does-not-start-with-a-job-ad/
- Published: 2026-10-26T07:18:24.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-26T07:18:59.000Z
- Description: Imagine two almost identical job ads. A similar role, similar pay, the same location. But candidates already know one company. Which offer do you think has the better starting position?
- Author: Tomáš Velech
- Tags: Employer Branding, Recruitment

Imagine two almost identical job ads. A similar role, similar pay, the same location. But candidates already know one company. They have seen its communications several times, have a rough idea of what it does, and can imagine what it might be like to work there. They are seeing the other company’s name for the first time.

Which offer do you think has the better starting position?

This is where the importance of an employer brand becomes clear. **Employer branding does not begin when you open a new position.** Candidates start forming an impression of your company long before then.

## What do people in Czechia expect from employers today?

This year’s [**Randstad Employer Brand Research 2026**](https://www.randstad.cz/employer-brand-research/o-pruzkumu/?ref=blog-en.nelisa.com), which surveyed 4,079 respondents from Czechia, reveals an interesting shift in what people look for when choosing an employer.

**For the first time, a pleasant working atmosphere, job security and work-life balance have ranked ahead of salary and benefits.**

That does not mean money no longer matters. If pay does not meet expectations, it remains a strong reason to change employers. But when deciding **where people want to work at all**, the overall impression of a company matters more and more.

And that impression also differs from one candidate group to another.

For example, data from a 2025 Czech survey show that:

- For **61% of white-collar workers** a pleasant working atmosphere is one of the important factors.
- For **60% of blue-collar workers** job security carries significant weight.
- Job security is also important to **63% of IT specialists**.
- **The same share of IT candidates also place emphasis on the option of working remotely.**

That is why one universal message may not work for everyone.

Instead of asking: **“What do we want to say as a company?”**

try starting with the question: **“Who do we need to reach, and what really matters to these people when choosing an employer?”**

## Why your employer brand has a direct impact on recruitment

Every company has an employer brand, even if it is not actively building one.

It is shaped by what current and former employees say about the company, what people can find out about it online, how it communicates, what its recruitment process is like, and the working conditions it actually offers.

**Employer branding is the conscious, long-term work of shaping how people perceive a company as an employer and what they associate with it.**

And when you are hiring, it can have a very tangible impact. Randstad, for example, reports that companies with a good reputation receive around **twice as many job applications** as companies with a poor reputation. According to its data, half of candidates would not work for a company with a poor reputation, even for higher pay.

So even the best job ad does not start from scratch. Candidates already have an opinion about the employer when they see it.

## 5 things your employer brand can be built on

### 1\. First, find out why someone should work for you

Do not start with a slogan. Start with reality instead. Ask current employees why they joined the company, what makes them stay, what pleasantly surprised them, and what they would tell a friend about working there.

**This is often where you will find much stronger arguments than generic lines** such as *“we are a stable company with a friendly team”*.

For some people, the main reason might be a manager who gives them freedom. Elsewhere, it could be shifts planned well in advance. Other candidates may value new technologies, the chance to grow professionally, or the fact that they can be home in fifteen minutes.

**An employer brand does not have to be stunning or breathtaking. Above all, it has to be truthful, authentic and relevant.**

### 2\. Do not speak to everyone in the same way

A message that appeals to a developer in Prague will probably be different from one that appeals to a production operator in the Vysočina region. That sounds logical, yet not every company gets it right.

Segmentation does not have to mean dozens of different campaigns. Sometimes all it takes is changing the main message to suit the profile of the people you want to attract over the long term.

Instead of the generic claim **“We are a great place to work.”** one target group might hear: **“You know your shifts in advance, and when work is over, your time is your own.”** Or: **“You will have room to make decisions about the technologies you work with.”**

The more specific the reason, the easier it is for candidates to picture it and relate to it.

### 3\. Show evidence instead of advertising superlatives

Employer branding does not work well when there is too wide a gap between what you communicate and reality.

**If you say you support people’s growth, share the story of someone who has genuinely progressed.** If you talk about flexibility, explain exactly how it works. If modern manufacturing is one of your strengths, show the workplace.

Transparency about basic working conditions matters just as much. For example, according to Randstad’s 2025 Czech survey, **92.2% of respondents would welcome mandatory salary disclosure in job ads.**

A strong employer brand is not built by hiding uncomfortable topics. It is built by making sure people know what to expect from you.

### 4\. Do not wait until you need to hire to start building your employer brand

This is where companies often run into trouble. A position opens up, pressure mounts to hire quickly, and only then do they try to convince candidates within a few weeks that the company is worth their attention.

But at that moment, many of the people you want to reach are not actively looking for a new job. That is why it makes sense to work on awareness too: *be visible to the right people while they are scrolling through social media, reading the news* **or wondering whether it is time for a change.**

**Then, when they come across your job ad, your name will not be completely unfamiliar to them.**

### 5\. Do not measure employer branding in the same way as a recruitment campaign

A performance recruitment campaign is designed to attract candidates. So it makes sense to track the number of responses, conversion rates or cost per candidate.

A brand awareness campaign addresses a different part of the journey.

Its goal is to **put the employer in front of a relevant audience repeatedly and increase brand awareness.** That is why the main metrics are reach, impressions, frequency, the profile of the audience reached, and clicks.

Expecting an awareness campaign to generate the same number of responses as a performance recruitment campaign means judging two different tools by the same KPI.

## When should you start building visibility before recruitment?

You do not have to aim to become one of the best-known employers in Czechia. Even **local or profession-specific awareness** can be highly valuable for recruitment.

It makes sense to work on it, for example, when you:

- are opening a new plant or branch,
- know you will be hiring at scale in a few months,
- are looking for the same profiles over the long term,
- need to raise awareness of your company in a specific region,
- are planning an open day, recruitment event or another activity,
- are competing with several other employers for a limited pool of specialists.

This is exactly where a gap often opens up between long-term employer brand building and a standard recruitment campaign. Companies need to be visible to relevant people before they start hiring intensively.

## Nelisa Branding: be visible before recruitment

That is exactly the stage we created **Nelisa Branding** for.

It is a **30-day awareness campaign** whose main purpose is not to collect applications for a specific role straight away. **It helps put your employer brand in front of relevant people before they become active candidates.**

It is an ideal solution when, for example, you are planning an open day, taking part in a job fair, or opening a new branch. But the possibilities are not limited to these examples.

Depending on the option you choose, your campaign can run on **Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Seznam and TikTok** as well as other supporting channels. Campaigns can be targeted by location and, thanks to Alma Career data, also reach audiences interested in specific types of jobs.

You do not need to manage your own advertising accounts or set up campaigns. Nelisa takes care of everything, from creative development and launch to ongoing optimisation and final reporting.

After the campaign ends, you will receive an overview of the number of impressions, how many unique people it reached, the average frequency, the profile of the audience reached, and how many people clicked on the campaign.

**Nelisa Branding does not replace a standard recruitment campaign.** The two formats address different stages of the candidate journey.

Branding helps relevant people get to know you. A performance recruitment campaign then gives them a specific reason to apply.

## Next time you open a new role, do not start from scratch

Employer branding cannot guarantee that every candidate will send in a CV straight away. But it can significantly change your starting position.

The next time you publish a job ad, the candidate’s first question will not be **“Who is this company?”**, but, ideally, **“Oh, I know this company. What are they offering?”**

### Want to put your employer brand in front of the right people?

Take a look at **Nelisa Branding** and we will be happy to help you choose an audience, channels and messages that make sense for recruitment at your company.

[Find out more about Nelisa Branding](https://nelisa.com/en-cz/leave-us-your-contact?ref=blog-en.nelisa.com)