The recruitment landscape has shifted. Candidates are no longer browsing job boards and applying on impulse; they're conducting deep research, spending an average of 2.5 hours investigating each prospective employer. This behavioural change demands a complete rethink of how organisations approach employer branding.

Recent research reveals that 76% of job seekers now spend between 30 minutes and 2+ hours researching companies before applying, with 45% trusting first-hand employee experiences most. For employers, this creates both a challenge and an unprecedented opportunity to build genuine trust with top talent.

This blog will cover:

• What an authentic employer brand really means in today’s market
• Why transparency and trust matter more than ever to candidates
• How research-driven job seekers evaluate potential employers
• Practical steps to build and maintain an authentic employer brand
• Examples of companies leading the way in transparency and EVP storytelling

Meet the experts 

The strategies and insights in this article come from Flexa's recent webinar "Beyond First Impressions: Building Trust with Today's Research-Driven Candidates," hosted by Molly Johnson-Jones, CEO and Co-Founder of Flexa. The discussion brought together three experts who are at the forefront of adapting to these changing candidate behaviours:

Amanda Adeleke is the UK Candidate Marketing Manager at Accenture, where she leads early talent experience, hire, and alumni initiatives. Her role focuses on positioning Accenture as the employer of choice for target markets while championing inclusivity and ensuring people feel connected to meaningful work. At one of the world's largest consulting firms, Amanda sees firsthand how the most competitive graduate candidates research and evaluate employers.

Kirsten Penny serves as Talent Acquisition Manager for Early Careers at M&S, overseeing attraction and selection for graduates and apprenticeships across the retail business. She works closely with employer branding teams to bring in the right candidates for roles spanning retail operations and support centers. Kirsten has been implementing innovative approaches to help candidates truly understand what working at M&S involves, including partnerships with technology platforms to provide pre-boarding experiences.

Yasmin Howell is Head of Customer Experience at Connectr Talent Technology, where she helps employers find top talent through candidate experience and pre-boarding platforms. Her work focuses on candidate empowerment through personalised content, digital advocacy, and community spaces that help candidates make informed decisions about potential employers. Yasmin brings unique insights from working across multiple organisations and seeing data on what candidate behaviours actually lead to successful hires.

The new candidate research behaviour

"We're seeing a reverse interview scenario," explains Amanda Adeleke, UK Candidate Marketing Manager at Accenture. "Where traditionally the interview would be one-way with the recruiter asking questions, it's almost becoming a reverse interview where candidates have so many questions. They're asking difficult questions about stances on particular topics."

This shift reflects how Gen Z and millennial candidates approach decision-making. Having grown up online and accustomed to researching products thoroughly before purchase, they're applying the same scrutiny to career decisions. It's no longer just about job title or salary – candidates want to understand a company’s stance on diversity, sustainability, career development, and company culture.

Kirsten Penny, Talent Acquisition Manager for Early Careers at M&S, has witnessed this transformation firsthand: "People were arriving at assessment centers recognising me immediately, saying 'I've seen you on the platform, thanks for all the tips.' It feels like they're familiar and understand where we've double-checked on some things."

Serving both quick browsers and deep researchers

The research reveals two distinct candidate personas: those who want quick, high-impact information in five minutes, and those who conduct comprehensive deep dives. Smart employers are creating content strategies that serve both.

Short-form content for quick decision makers

• Day-in-the-life videos showing real employee experiences
• Social media content that can be consumed quickly
• Clear, concise benefit summaries
• Quick-hit videos highlighting key differentiators

Long-form content for deep researchers

• Detailed reports and industry insights on company websites
• 20-30 minute interviews with industry leaders
• Comprehensive culture deep-dives
• Role-specific content that helps candidates visualise themselves in the position

"You need both longer form and shorter form content," notes Yasmin Howell from Connectr Talent Technology. "For those who are maybe only going to give you five minutes, that's where short form video content can be quite impactful. For deeper research, it's way deeper into the culture and role-specific content so they can really visualise themselves working at your company."

The power of authentic employee advocacy

Perhaps the most powerful tool in building trust is authentic employee advocacy. However, the key word here is authentic – candidates can spot manufactured content from miles away.

Best practices for employee advocacy:

Give employees freedom of expression: Rather than heavily scripting content, successful companies give employees autonomy to share their genuine experiences. As Amanda explains: "The people doing really well weren't talking about the guidance we gave them, they were being really honest, saying 'this is a cool project I'm working on.' It was very individual."

Focus on recent joiners: New employees often provide the most authentic advocacy because their experiences are fresh and relatable to candidates. Kirsten emphasises: "Coming straight out of reasonably new joiners' mouths will always be of interest to people – that authenticity is really strong."

Make it strategic, not overwhelming "You need to be strategic about where you deploy employee advocacy," advises Yasmin. "It can be resource intensive, so it needs to have a purpose. Don't just throw it out there."

Transparency as a competitive advantage

The most successful employer brands are embracing radical transparency. They’re not just highlighting positives, but being honest about challenges and what won't work for everyone.

Amanda draws a compelling parallel: "I compare it to a dating situation – you want to put your cards on the table and say 'this is who I am, this is what you're going to get, are you interested?' We want to be the employer of choice for the right target market."

This transparency serves multiple purposes:

• Quality over quantity: Attracts genuinely interested candidates rather than just generating volume
• Better retention: Employees who join with accurate expectations stay longer
• Improved performance: Aligned expectations lead to higher job satisfaction

Being honest about the tough stuff

M&S exemplifies this approach in their retail leadership programs. "Our retail leader programs in-store can be tough," Kirsten admits. "It's really important that we don't paint a picture that isn't exactly as it is. We want people to make sure that if they're meant to be a retail leader, then absolutely join us, but is it right for you?"

At Flexa we also follow this approach by being explicit about our work-life integration approach rather than promising traditional work-life balance. This attracts candidates who thrive in that environment while deterring those who wouldn't be a good fit.

Using data to optimise your approach

Modern employer branding requires a data-driven approach. Successful organisations are tracking:

• Drop-off points in the application process
• Engagement metrics on different types of content
• Conversion rates from research to application
• Long-term retention of candidates who engaged deeply with employer brand content

Kirsten shares how M&S uses this data: "We've really dived into our end-of-season data to see where demographics have dropped off – where people started and maybe didn't continue. We use that data to look at strategy for this year and fill in those gaps."

The most sophisticated organisations are connecting the entire journey, from first brand interaction through to long-term employee success, creating a comprehensive picture of what actually drives quality hires.

Practical steps for authentic employer branding 

1. Audit your current content

Map out what content exists across all channels and identify gaps for both quick browsers and deep researchers.

2. Develop employee advocate programs

Start small with enthusiastic volunteers, provide support without over-scripting, and measure impact.

3. Embrace strategic transparency

Identify what makes you unique – including potential drawbacks – and communicate this clearly across all touchpoints.

4. Implement tracking systems

Set up analytics to understand how candidates research your company and where they drop off.

5. Create journey maps

Map different candidate personas and their research journeys to ensure you're serving all types effectively.

The trend toward extensive candidate research isn't going away – if anything, it's accelerating. Organisations that adapt their employer branding strategies to serve research-driven candidates will gain a significant competitive advantage in attracting and retaining top talent.

It’s important to understand that modern employer branding isn't about creating the most appealing image – it's about creating the most accurate image that attracts the right people and builds genuine trust from the very first interaction.

As Amanda concludes: "Clarity builds trust, and once you have that trust, the candidate is better informed to make the decision about whether this is the right place for them to work or not."

Employer branding FAQs

Q: Since candidates are doing more research than ever when looking for their next company, what's your approach to providing the transparency they're looking for around benefits, flexibility, and culture - rather than leaving them to piece it together from various sources?

A: Yasmin Howell (Connectr Talent Technology): "This requires having some kind of hub - whether that's a platform like Connectr or even just your career site with everything interlinked and centralised as much as possible. You can surface LinkedIn, TikTok, or Instagram content on other pages and vice versa so information is shared and distributed. The key is having clear ownership of different parts of the experience and working together to communicate consistently across all channels."

Q: Any advice for measuring if candidates who self-select out still have a positive view of your brand?

A: Amanda Adeleke (Accenture): "Look at brand mapping year-over-year to see the bigger picture. Ask for feedback from candidates who don't proceed - find out why they opted out. Most importantly, ensure your candidate experience is always excellent because there's a big difference between someone opting out due to bad experience versus self-selecting out because it's not the right fit. If you maintain a good experience, people can realise somewhere isn't right for them but still have a positive perception."

Q: Have you had any pushback on the time it takes for employee advocacy, considering it takes time away from their standard day job? And how have you navigated that?

A: Amanda Adeleke: "Build support systems to make advocacy easy and seamless, not a second job. Provide starter packs with everything advocates need, offer weekly drop-in sessions for support and ideas, and make the process as simple as possible." 

Yasmin Howell adds: "Some organisations use volunteering hours for advocacy work so it's recognised as part of the job rather than extra work on top."