We know that professional development and company culture are extremely important to early-career candidates in their job search. But when it comes to interviewing with specific companies, a company’s mission and values plays the biggest role in sparking candidate interest.
The finding comes from data compiled through our Candidate Experience Survey, which measures the awareness, interest, and experiences of candidates on our platform as they move through the hiring processes of our company partners. We asked candidates: “Aside from your interest in this specific position, which of the following, if any, interested you in interviewing with this company?” and gave them the option to select all factors that applied to them.
While each survey administered collects feedback on individual companies, the composite data shows that “Company Mission and Values” garners the most candidate interest, with 59% of candidates that participated in the survey selecting that option.
The results varied across companies – some saw their advertised professional development opportunities as the leading factor for candidate interest, while others’ recognizable name was the main draw for candidates. However, the composite data shows that a company’s mission and values influence the interest level of more than half the candidates that took our survey.
Interestingly, there seems to be a gap between what candidates say is most important in their general job search and what actually influences their interest levels for individual companies.
When asked about their careers more generally in our candidate onboarding survey, candidates say that professional development and company culture are the most important elements for a job to have. But in our candidate experience survey, those professional development and company culture are selected as often as recognizable name and location. Because our candidate experience survey asks candidates about specific companies they have interacted with, their responses are limited to how these opportunities are being marketed. Most companies prominently display their mission and values on their external materials – could they improve on effectively marketing their other value propositions to candidates?
Knowing that a company’s mission and values sparks interest in nearly 60% of candidates, be sure that information is easy to locate on your website and external profiles. Beyond that, consider doing research on how candidates perceive your brand to see what you should emphasize and where you can improve. For example – if you offer robust opportunities for learning and development but candidates aren’t aware of it, you could be missing out on an opportunity to catch the attention of talented early-career candidates.
RippleMatch’s brand perception reports offer a comprehensive look at what candidates think of your brand, but you can also review your Glassdoor reviews or gather anecdotal data during your interview process. Understanding which elements of your brand resonate with candidates can help you decide what to amplify throughout your hiring process, and may even inspire you to switch up your recruitment marketing to ensure that candidates can see every part of what makes your company a great place to work.
Interested in measuring how early-career candidates perceive your brand? Get in touch with our team today to learn more about our brand perception reports.
