Branding is the process of creating an image of an organization as being a "great place to work" in the minds of a target audience of applicants and employees.

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North Carolina state agencies and universities must develop employment marketing capabilities in order to attract high caliber candidates. With many companies vying for scarce talent, top candidates will select or deselect your agency or university while you are trying to select them. If your organization does not vigorously pursue the high performing candidates it desires, those candidates will choose to work somewhere else.

How can your agency or university entice the best candidates to work for you in an increasingly competitive job market? Marketing is selling your organization's position, workplace, culture and opportunities to "buyers" comprised of highly qualified active and passive job seekers and can include many types of outreach. These efforts include communicating the Employee Value Proposition (EVP).

Your employment brand is another important aspect of employment marketing. The goal is to create an effective "employment brand", a package of employment attributes that is readily identified with the organization and serves to attract and retain a high performing workforce. Effective employment branding adds to recruitment success.

Employment marketing includes maximizing Internet communication. How much of a web presence does your organization have? How easy is it to navigate your web site to review job openings? Job hunters are increasingly pursuing employment via the Internet. Here active and passive candidates can complete applications, post resumes, research potential employers and sign up for company e-mails and newsletters any time of day or night. What does your agency or university's web site tell visitors about your organization? Does it clearly communicate your organization's mission as well as your organization's tangible and intangible benefits?

Analyzing and improving both your candidates' job search experience along with your job postings are at the core of effective employment marketing. How static are your job postings and your web site? Analyzing your job postings and employment advertisements requires that you design them to catch a viewer's interest long enough to motivate them to action. Look at your most recent job posting to see if goes beyond the basics of listing the job requirements to providing a functional job title that sizzles and a description that summarizes job challenges and opportunities. Does it have enough pizzazz to make you want to work there?

Sharing your success, innovation, and community involvement stories on your web page, in press releases, at professional association meetings, and at civic and community gatherings can broaden your organization's marketing impact. Recruitment advertising that is targeted to capture the attention of the candidates you seek will motivate them to action. Marketing your public mission appeals to those who seek to make a difference.

The resources presented here walk you through the process of employment marketing. You will find tools to help you to create your employment brand, enhance your job postings and advertising, leverage state benefits and develop effective marketing strategies through a speaker's bureau.