How to Reinforce Your Employer Brand With Visuals When You Don't Have a Pretty Office
Here’s the deal: You have to have visuals on your careers page. A catalog of open job titles and a list of benefits doesn’t cut it, so if you don’t have a slick brick-and-mortar office or work environment, it’s easy to envy companies like Apple, Google, and Square who can throw up pictures of their trendy offices for candidates to drool over.
But you don’t have to use office photos to reinforce your employer brand. If your office looks more like Dunder Mifflin than Sterling Cooper, here’s how to build a visual employer brand.
Should I use stock photos?
No, don’t use stock photos. Candidates can spot stock a mile away, and it looks dead, unoriginal, lazy, and a little creepy. It conceals more about your company than it conveys, and evasiveness is not a good look.
Use photos of your staff—wherever they are
Social media software company Buffer employs a completely remote workforce, so they have no office to show off. Instead, they use photos of employees at events or in their home offices to help potential applicants picture themselves as part of their team.
Photo: Buffer
Business communication platform Slack banners their careers page with employee photos with bold backdrops.
Photo: Slack
Use employee video interviews
Foodservice company Compass Group includes employee interview videos for employer branding. If you’re self-conscious about your workspace, use a backdrop or have the production team blur the background.
Photo: Compass Group
If you’re constrained by budget, have employees record themselves answering questions. CX technology company TTEC has a whole library of these videos. (And P.S. the videos are captioned so people with hearing loss can access the info too.)
Photo: TTEC
Use graphics
Photos aren’t the only engaging visual for your careers page. Think colorful graphics, typographic treatments, maps, and animation. UK clothing retailer Boden uses playful illustrations and graphics.
Photo: Boden
SaaS time tracker Time Doctor maps their global workforce.
Photo: Time Doctor
Digital product design platform InVision uses typographic treatments and data viz to make their careers page more compelling.
Photo: InVision
Photo: InVision
Other companies that use non-photo visuals well
Need more ideas? Check out these companies that lean on more than just office photos to brand themselves.
Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza writes about workplace culture, DEI, and hiring. Her work has appeared in Fast Company, From Day One, and InHerSight, among others.
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