“Stand out from the crowd”: building a strong employer brand when everyone is saying the same thing
I have participated in over a thousand recruitments in my career. And almost every time, I've heard the same phrases: “We want to attract good profiles.” “We want to stand out.” “We want people to talk about us.” But when I dig deeper and ask this simple question: What's your difference, what do you offer that others don't have? ... silence falls. The job market has evolved. Talents have choices. They compare. They question. They google. And faced with an avalanche of 'great atmosphere, tight-knit team, stimulating job' offers, everything becomes blurred. This is where the employer brand becomes central. Not just as a nice varnish. But as a lever for clarity, attractiveness, and consistency. Employer branding: what are we (really) talking about? No, it's not a logo on a job posting or a corporate video. The employer brand is the perception that people have of you as an employer. It exists whether you have formalized it or not. It expresses itself: In the opinions (formal or informal) of your colleagues In your interactions with the candidates Regarding the quality of your onboarding In what you post (or do not post) In your silences, as much as in your words That's what a talent feels, even before meeting you. The real challenge: “stand out from the crowd” Everyone wants to stand out. But everyone uses the same words, the same codes, the same formulas. Result? Nothing stands out. The vanilla HR approach prevails. And the candidate moves from one career page to another without ever feeling that famous “wow, this is where I want to work.” Le “stand out from the crowd” ne se joue pas sur du marketing flashy. Il repose sur 3 fondamentaux : The clarity of your employer value proposition (EVP) → Who are you? What are your actual promises? What do people experience in your company? The alignment between speech and reality → The worst thing for a talent is to experience dissonance once recruited. It breaks trust, commitment... and retention. The ability to share what makes you unique → No need to be Google. You just have to be authentic. And understand what resonates with your targets. The real challenges of HR professionals and employer branding today What I hear most on the ground: Not enough bandwidth → too many projects, too few hands No dedicated team → we make do with what we have Lack of internal buy-in → constant need to 'evangelize' No clarity on the right indicators → what is a successful employer brand? Silos between HR, marketing, and communications → each moving forward with their own priorities Tensions between global and local → hard to tell a coherent story internationally These are real issues. And we won't solve them with a quick 'rebranding' or a video that ticks all the boxes. So, what are we doing? Where do we start? The answer is often simpler than we think: We start by listening. What the employees say. What they experience. What they like (or not). We clarify our DNA. The true lived values. The differences. The key moments of the employee experience. We align the touchpoints. From the career site to social networks, through the job offer and the interview. Everything must tell the same story. And above all: we don't try to please everyone. We aim to attract the right people. Those for whom our culture, our challenges, our style will truly resonate. My own challenge at the moment? It's about bandwidth. The more we progress, the more the subject fascinates... and the more I'm asked to intervene, to audit, to rewrite, to co-construct. And sometimes, I dream of an employer brand team! But even without a team, it 'simply' takes laying the right foundations. And to build, step by step, a true and powerful story. And you? What's your biggest challenge today to “stand out from the crowd”? And if you feel like talking about it? Write to me, I love these exchanges.
How to digitize recruitment as an SME?
The digitization of recruitment has become essential for SMEs. This article explains how to: Offer a fluid and mobile-first candidate experience. Use your employer brand as a lever for attraction. Avoid fragmented processes thanks to a centralized database. Automate repetitive tasks to save time. Effectively disseminate your job offers. Improve internal collaboration around recruitment. Why digitize recruitment? Everything has become digital. We buy in a few clicks on Amazon, we book our holidays on our smartphone... and candidates expect the same simplicity when applying for a job. The parallel with e-commerce is striking: nearly 3 out of 5 buyers abandon their online cart before finalizing. In digital recruitment, it's even worse. If the process is not fluid and mobile-friendly, you lose your talent before you even meet them. A classic career site converts only 0 to 2% of its visitors into candidates, whereas with an optimized digital experience (SEO, employer brand content, mobile first), this rate can be multiplied by 10, creating a genuine source of candidate acquisition. Digitizing recruitment has become a vital issue for any SME that needs talent. Digitizing recruitment with a simple candidate conversion funnel Just like in marketing, you need to think about the conversion funnel. A candidate must be guided from where they are (Google Jobs, LinkedIn, social networks, articles, specialized job boards...) to the application stage. The 3 key steps: Be present where candidates are. Offer a friction-free experience, especially on mobile (more than 90% of applications are made on smartphones). Allow applying in one click, via a CV or a LinkedIn profile. Did you know that 90% of LinkedIn users in Belgium are exclusively on mobile? Using your employer brand Why would a candidate choose your SME over another company with an equivalent position and salary? The answer lies in your employer brand. This must be authentic. Forget the “bullshit” and the nice marketing speeches: you have to speak the truth. Questions to ask yourself: What is your work culture? What are your values and vision? What concrete projects are your teams leading? What opportunities for growth or training do you offer? 84% of candidates look for information about the employer brand before applying, and this figure rises even higher for shortage profiles. An empty or outdated career site becomes a major obstacle. Also, remember to adapt your content according to your target profiles: a worker, an engineer, or an IT specialist will not have the same expectations or language. Avoid fragmented processes Too many SMEs still manage their recruitment via a mixture of emails, Excel, Dropbox, or SharePoint. The result: fragmented and inefficient processes. Concrete examples: A candidate already met is contacted again by mistake. A promising profile is lost due to the lack of a centralized database. Candidate feedback is forgotten, tarnishing the employer image. A centralized database The key to digitization is data centralization. With an ATS (Applicant Tracking System), you create a unique database that: Keeps the history of each candidate, Shares information between managers, Allows building a talent pool for future recruitments, Simplifies the rejection or automated follow-up of applications. Thus, no more information loss and instant access to your talent, even those met in the past. Digitizing recruitment by automating time-consuming tasks The goal is not to replace the human, but to free up time. Automation reduces operational tasks to focus on what matters: the human encounter. Examples of useful automation: Automatic creation of candidate profiles (CV reading, skills, languages, etc.). Sending automated and personalized rejections. Follow-ups of old applications. CV sorting with extraction of key skills. Qualification via short forms. Automatic generation of ads, translations, and social media content. Automated multi-platform dissemination. With AI, these steps become even more fluid and precise. Automated dissemination of job offers Publishing on LinkedIn, Indeed, or Google Jobs seems simple, but it is time-consuming. Candidates are scattered across multiple channels, so you need to disseminate effectively across multiple platforms. Thanks to multi-dissemination tools, an ad can be published with one click on all relevant channels. Advantages: Considerable time saving. Maximum visibility among the right candidates. Complete coverage of the job market without extra effort. Facilitate internal communication Recruitment is never done alone. In an SME, several actors are involved: directors, managers, HR... Without a central tool, communication becomes fragmented. The benefits of a centralized tool: Notes and evaluations directly on the candidate profile. Real-time tracking of recruitment efforts. Documented and transparent decisions. Result: a more collaborative, fast, and clear process — a guarantee of professionalism towards candidates. Conclusion: digitizing recruitment, a necessity for SMEs Not digitizing your recruitment means losing your candidates before you even meet them. In summary: A mobile-first and fluid candidate experience. An authentic and visible employer brand. A centralized and smart database. Automated processes to focus on the human element. Digitizing recruitment means putting the human element back at the center.
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“Stand out from the crowd”: building a strong employer brand when everyone is saying the same thing
I have participated in over a thousand recruitments in my career. And almost every time, I've heard the same phrases: “We want to attract good profiles.” “We want to stand out.” “We want people to talk about us.”But when I dig deeper and ask this simple question: What's your difference, what do you offer that others don't have? ... silence falls.The job market has evolved. Talents have choices. They compare. They question. They google. And faced with an avalanche of 'great atmosphere, tight-knit team, stimulating job' offers, everything becomes blurred.This is where the employer brand becomes central. Not just as a nice varnish. But as a lever for clarity, attractiveness, and consistency.Employer branding: what are we (really) talking about?No, it's not a logo on a job posting or a corporate video. The employer brand is the perception that people have of you as an employer.It exists whether you have formalized it or not. It expresses itself:In the opinions (formal or informal) of your colleaguesIn your interactions with the candidatesRegarding the quality of your onboardingIn what you post (or do not post)In your silences, as much as in your wordsThat's what a talent feels, even before meeting you.The real challenge: “stand out from the crowd”Everyone wants to stand out. But everyone uses the same words, the same codes, the same formulas.Result? Nothing stands out. The vanilla HR approach prevails. And the candidate moves from one career page to another without ever feeling that famous “wow, this is where I want to work.”Le “stand out from the crowd” ne se joue pas sur du marketing flashy. Il repose sur 3 fondamentaux :The clarity of your employer value proposition (EVP)→ Who are you? What are your actual promises? What do people experience in your company?The alignment between speech and reality→ The worst thing for a talent is to experience dissonance once recruited. It breaks trust, commitment... and retention.The ability to share what makes you unique→ No need to be Google. You just have to be authentic. And understand what resonates with your targets.The real challenges of HR professionals and employer branding todayWhat I hear most on the ground:Not enough bandwidth → too many projects, too few handsNo dedicated team → we make do with what we haveLack of internal buy-in → constant need to 'evangelize'No clarity on the right indicators → what is a successful employer brand?Silos between HR, marketing, and communications → each moving forward with their own prioritiesTensions between global and local → hard to tell a coherent story internationallyThese are real issues. And we won't solve them with a quick 'rebranding' or a video that ticks all the boxes.So, what are we doing? Where do we start?The answer is often simpler than we think:We start by listening. What the employees say. What they experience. What they like (or not).We clarify our DNA. The true lived values. The differences. The key moments of the employee experience.We align the touchpoints. From the career site to social networks, through the job offer and the interview. Everything must tell the same story.And above all: we don't try to please everyone.We aim to attract the right people. Those for whom our culture, our challenges, our style will truly resonate.My own challenge at the moment?It's about bandwidth. The more we progress, the more the subject fascinates... and the more I'm asked to intervene, to audit, to rewrite, to co-construct. And sometimes, I dream of an employer brand team! But even without a team, it 'simply' takes laying the right foundations. And to build, step by step, a true and powerful story.And you? What's your biggest challenge today to “stand out from the crowd”? And if you feel like talking about it? Write to me, I love these exchanges.
Recruter sans outils digitaux, c’est un peu comme pêcher sans filet : on finit par passer à côté des meilleurs profils.
Aujourd’hui, les candidats veulent postuler aussi facilement qu’ils commandent sur Amazon — et si ce n’est pas le cas, ils passent à l’offre suivante.Voici les 10 erreurs les plus fréquentes que font encore (trop) de PME… et comment les éviter.1. Un site carrière figéUne simple liste d’offres ou des PDF à télécharger → taux de conversion quasi nul (0 à 2 %).2. Pas de mobile firstAlors que plus de 90 % des candidatures se font sur smartphone.3. Des formulaires à rallongeLettres de motivation obligatoires, 20 champs à remplir, étapes multiples… les candidats fuient.4. Aucune marque employeurPas de contenu qui donne envie de rejoindre votre boîte plutôt qu’une autre.5. Des process éclatésCandidatures par mail, suivi dans Excel, CV dans Dropbox → perte de temps et d’efficacité.6. Pas de base de données centraliséeOn oublie les bons candidats, on recontacte les mêmes profils, on perd la mémoire collective.7. Pas de visibilité multicanalLes offres ne sont publiées que sur LinkedIn ou Indeed → portée limitée.8. Zéro automatisationLes recruteurs passent des heures à trier ou envoyer des refus manuellement.9. Manque de feedback candidatAucune réponse claire ou rapide → image employeur abîmée.10. Recrutement perçu comme administratifAlors qu’avec les bons outils, on peut redonner du temps à l’humain, à l’échange, à la rencontre.La bonne nouvelle ? Tout ça se corrige facilement.Avec Jobloom, les PME peuvent digitaliser leur recrutement sans perdre leur authenticité — et sans se ruiner.Vous avez envie de voir comment ça marche ?
Jobloom, c’est un ATS ? Oui… mais pas que !
On nous pose souvent la question : « Jobloom, c’est un ATS ? » Au début je ne voulais pas développer d’ATS. Par ce que tous les ATS se concentrent sur le back-end : trier les CV, gérer les candidatures, suivre les étapes.C’est utile… mais ça ne résout pas le vrai problème : faire venir les bons candidats.Chez Jobloom, on a pris le problème à l’envers.On part du front-end — un site carrière qui attire, engage et convertit (jusqu’à 24 % des visiteurs postulent, contre 0 à 2 % en moyenne).On y ajoute la multidiffusion sur plus de 100 canaux (LinkedIn, Google Jobs, Indeed, Talent.com…), une expérience mobile-first ultra fluide, et un ATS intelligent dopé à l’IA pour tout centraliser sans friction.En clair : Joblot, c’est bien plus qu’un ATS.C’est une solution de recrutement digitale globale, pensée pour les PME.
Christelle Lempereur, DRH de Léonidas.
" Nous avons reçu 55 candidatures sur un profil atypique et ça, c’est parce que cette offre publiée par ce site (jobloom) génère beaucoup d’attractivité et beaucoup de visibilité. "
How to digitize recruitment as an SME?
The digitization of recruitment has become essential for SMEs. This article explains how to:Offer a fluid and mobile-first candidate experience.Use your employer brand as a lever for attraction.Avoid fragmented processes thanks to a centralized database.Automate repetitive tasks to save time.Effectively disseminate your job offers.Improve internal collaboration around recruitment.Why digitize recruitment?Everything has become digital. We buy in a few clicks on Amazon, we book our holidays on our smartphone... and candidates expect the same simplicity when applying for a job.The parallel with e-commerce is striking: nearly 3 out of 5 buyers abandon their online cart before finalizing.In digital recruitment, it's even worse. If the process is not fluid and mobile-friendly, you lose your talent before you even meet them.A classic career site converts only 0 to 2% of its visitors into candidates, whereas with an optimized digital experience (SEO, employer brand content, mobile first), this rate can be multiplied by 10, creating a genuine source of candidate acquisition.Digitizing recruitment has become a vital issue for any SME that needs talent.Digitizing recruitment with a simple candidate conversion funnelJust like in marketing, you need to think about the conversion funnel. A candidate must be guided from where they are (Google Jobs, LinkedIn, social networks, articles, specialized job boards...) to the application stage.The 3 key steps:Be present where candidates are.Offer a friction-free experience, especially on mobile (more than 90% of applications are made on smartphones).Allow applying in one click, via a CV or a LinkedIn profile.Did you know that 90% of LinkedIn users in Belgium are exclusively on mobile?Using your employer brandWhy would a candidate choose your SME over another company with an equivalent position and salary? The answer lies in your employer brand.This must be authentic. Forget the “bullshit” and the nice marketing speeches: you have to speak the truth.Questions to ask yourself:What is your work culture?What are your values and vision?What concrete projects are your teams leading?What opportunities for growth or training do you offer?84% of candidates look for information about the employer brand before applying, and this figure rises even higher for shortage profiles.An empty or outdated career site becomes a major obstacle.Also, remember to adapt your content according to your target profiles: a worker, an engineer, or an IT specialist will not have the same expectations or language.Avoid fragmented processesToo many SMEs still manage their recruitment via a mixture of emails, Excel, Dropbox, or SharePoint. The result: fragmented and inefficient processes.Concrete examples:A candidate already met is contacted again by mistake.A promising profile is lost due to the lack of a centralized database.Candidate feedback is forgotten, tarnishing the employer image.A centralized databaseThe key to digitization is data centralization.With an ATS (Applicant Tracking System), you create a unique database that:Keeps the history of each candidate,Shares information between managers,Allows building a talent pool for future recruitments,Simplifies the rejection or automated follow-up of applications.Thus, no more information loss and instant access to your talent, even those met in the past.Digitizing recruitment by automating time-consuming tasksThe goal is not to replace the human, but to free up time.Automation reduces operational tasks to focus on what matters: the human encounter.Examples of useful automation:Automatic creation of candidate profiles (CV reading, skills, languages, etc.).Sending automated and personalized rejections.Follow-ups of old applications.CV sorting with extraction of key skills.Qualification via short forms.Automatic generation of ads, translations, and social media content.Automated multi-platform dissemination.With AI, these steps become even more fluid and precise.Automated dissemination of job offersPublishing on LinkedIn, Indeed, or Google Jobs seems simple, but it is time-consuming.Candidates are scattered across multiple channels, so you need to disseminate effectively across multiple platforms.Thanks to multi-dissemination tools, an ad can be published with one click on all relevant channels.Advantages:Considerable time saving.Maximum visibility among the right candidates.Complete coverage of the job market without extra effort.Facilitate internal communicationRecruitment is never done alone. In an SME, several actors are involved: directors, managers, HR...Without a central tool, communication becomes fragmented.The benefits of a centralized tool:Notes and evaluations directly on the candidate profile.Real-time tracking of recruitment efforts.Documented and transparent decisions.Result: a more collaborative, fast, and clear process — a guarantee of professionalism towards candidates.Conclusion: digitizing recruitment, a necessity for SMEsNot digitizing your recruitment means losing your candidates before you even meet them.In summary:A mobile-first and fluid candidate experience.An authentic and visible employer brand.A centralized and smart database.Automated processes to focus on the human element.Digitizing recruitment means putting the human element back at the center.