- July 12, 2022
The rate of digitization in the e-commerce industry has drastically sped up since the onset of COVID-19. Consumers are shopping more online and spending less time in stores. This shift in behavior requires e-commerce companies to quickly find ways to adapt to these digital spending habits.
To accommodate these new behaviors and digitize their businesses, the e-commerce industry needs tech talent now. And as with every candidate, tech candidates are unique in what they want and expect of our employers. E-commerce companies need to pivot their employer brands to align with these candidate expectations. If they don’t their business will always be behind the times.
In this article, we highlight ten examples of how some of the biggest names in the e-commerce industry are using their employer brands to attract tech candidates. Keep reading to see what your talent competitors are doing to stand out and what you need to do to keep up.
Image via Vistaprint
When your company isn’t thought of as a tech giant, it can be difficult to get tech candidates interested in working for your company. You must prove to them that you can walk the walk, not just talk the talk. And that’s exactly what Vistaprint achieves in this article.
The company shares how it decided to completely replatform its infrastructure to accelerate its capabilities for the future. This decision is discussed throughout the article from the perspective of its tech leaders and members of its technology team.
Tech candidates come away with a sense of how the company approaches technical challenges and the confidence that the company does in fact invest heavily in technological advancements, an appealing attribute for tech candidates. It also offers a look into how the tech team collaborates and what a potential employee’s role on the tech team might look like.
Image via Fanatics
One of the easiest ways to show tech candidates what they can expect by choosing you as their next employer is to walk them through a day in the life of your current employees. Fanatics took this approach with its product director role in this article.
The article describes the product director’s day-to-day responsibilities and how he got into the leadership position he’s in. Candidates who read this article not only get direct insight into the expectations of a similar open role but also come away with the understanding of how to grow into a leadership position at the company.
Upon reading, tech candidates will have the inside scoop on how to prepare for an interview with Fanatics and ways to stand out with their resume when applying. It gives them a leg up on the competition and reassures them that the position they’re applying for is aligned with their expectations.
The advice and insight shared in this article will be much appreciated by candidates and is a great way to motivate candidates to apply for your role.
Image via GrubHub
Tech roles have always been more likely to be remote than other, more traditional roles. However, now that COVID-19 has forced a majority of companies to be remote, it’s even more important for potential employees to understand how you’re supporting remote work.
Grubhub understands this sudden shift not only impacted its employees but also required a change in how they talk about perks and benefits with potential candidates. Its senior manager of culture describes how the company listened to what its employees needed while working remotely and adjusted its benefits accordingly.
The company not only addresses new questions and concerns potential employees have about what it’s like to work at the company but reinforces the positive impact these changes have had on its workforce. This approach reiterates to candidates the company is constantly evolving to best support its employees, which is an important factor in most candidate’s decision on their next employer — especially for tech candidates who typically have their choice of who they want to work for.
Image via Postmates
Like any potential employee, tech candidates care about the projects they’ll be working on. And these details are even more important for tech candidates because their desire for innovative projects and making a difference with tech is great.
Postmates addresses this desired information head on by sharing how it uses technology to directly improve its users’s experiences. This topic sheds a light on not only the type of technology the company uses but how and why it’s used. It offers candidates a ton of insight into the integral role technology plays within the organization.
Knowing this, candidates understand how they would have the opportunity to make an impact not only on the company but the general population as well. This is an exciting opportunity tech candidates would jump at to be a part of.
Image via ChowNow
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are more important to candidates than ever before. As a company you must not only invest in these efforts and make a commitment to have them weaved into your company’s DNA, but also share how you specifically achieve this with candidates.
How do you educate employees about DEI? What policies do you have in place to ensure all employees are treated fairly and equally? How often does your company measure DEI? All of these questions are important for candidates to know about a company to understand if DEI is just something they talk about or actually invest in.
ChowNow’s director of HR shares how its company supports Black employees and ensures an anti-racist workplace in this article. After reading this article, candidates know DEI is not just something ChowNow talks about, but actually takes action to ensure a safe and equal workplace for all.
Image via Pampered Chef
Another strategy to approaching your employer brand is to emphasize the benefits that make your company unique. Pampered Chef takes this approach by speaking about its investment in supporting working parents, especially after parental leave.
The company offers insight from the perspective of one of its employees who recently got back from parental leave to show the support they received during this time. The employee also offered advice to other professionals who may be facing the same challenges of getting back to work after having a child.
While this article will not apply to all candidates, it’s a major plus for candidates who do identify as parents. Parental leave benefits vary quite drastically from organization to organization. If you have a great benefits package that will stand out from the crowd, make sure candidates know that. It could be the difference between you being their next employer or another company down the street.
Image via Vivid Seats
Burnout is not uncommon with tech candidates. And as the pressure mounts for e-commerce companies to quickly innovate and digitize their business, there will be a lot of responsibility laying on tech candidates’ shoulders.
Vivid Seats tackles this potential scenario head on by sharing how important health and wellness is in its organization. Employees share how initiatives are weaved into their workday to ensure they are not only taking care of themselves physically but mentally as well.
Candidates’ minds will be at ease when hearing about the initiatives Vivid Seats promotes to take care of its employees’ mental health.
Image via hims & hers
The shift to remote work hasn’t been easy but the company hims and hers has made a big effort to make sure its employees stay connected while working in this environment. The company is invested in making sure its culture still shines.
This article details how the company has been able to promote team-building while not being in the office together. They built a “fun committee” to help ensure the liveliness of the office was still felt even while working from home.
Hearing this, candidates can feel at ease knowing that even if they started their role remotely, they will still have plenty of chances to connect with their colleagues. The feeling of being a part of an organization is still important to candidates despite being unable to meet their fellow employees in-person.
Candidates will be excited to hear how hims and hers have built unique, remote-first experiences that have allowed the organization to connect in new and exciting ways.
Image via Nordstrom
Nordstrom approaches employer branding by providing insight and knowledge to candidates. This not only positions them as a thought leader on a specific subject — in this case, UX design — but also shows candidates they want to help them succeed, no matter if they work for Nordstrom or not.
The article details specific advice on how UX designers should lay out their resume when applying for a job. It describes ways candidates can stand out when applying and also shares how not to get stuck in an applicant tracking system.
By giving candidates advice, Nordstrom is able to promote exactly what it would expect from a UX designer and how a candidate could go about impressing the company in a potential job interview. It’s a non-invasive way to promote a job opportunity to a candidate while also helping them improve their interviewing skills.
Read the full article.
Image via StickerGiant
Culture is a topic of interest with most candidates so it makes sense that StickerGiant approaches its employer brand by focusing on its culture. The company interviewed three employees across different departments to share what it’s like to work for the company.
They go on to describe how all employees work together to achieve the company’s goals. The article also shares insight into the company’s quick growth and how this has opened up career opportunities for employees and candidates alike.
By sharing the perspective of employees across departments, candidates get a sense of how the organization collaborates and who is responsible for what. Hearing about a company’s growth and a candidate’s potential role in this is exciting. They realize that by working for StickerGiant they would have the opportunity to grow in their career.
Whichever strategies you choose to pursue when cultivating your employer brand, be mindful of the fact that candidates are unique and will have varying priorities. To appeal to a wider talent pool, you should aim to vary your approach. Think about the parts of your organization that resonate most with your current employees and market them to candidates. Doing so will help create a more effective and authentic employer brand.
