Effective Work Samples for Hiring an Employer Branding Manager

In today's competitive talent market, an Employer Branding Manager plays a pivotal role in attracting and retaining top talent. This strategic position requires a unique blend of marketing savvy, creative storytelling, analytical thinking, and collaborative skills. The right person in this role can significantly enhance your organization's reputation as an employer of choice, directly impacting your ability to attract high-caliber candidates.

Traditional interviews often fail to reveal a candidate's true capabilities in employer branding. While resumes and behavioral questions provide some insights, they rarely demonstrate how candidates will actually perform the core functions of the role. This is where carefully designed work samples become invaluable.

Work samples for an Employer Branding Manager should evaluate their ability to develop compelling narratives, create engaging content, strategize across digital platforms, analyze performance metrics, and collaborate effectively with stakeholders. These practical exercises provide a window into how candidates approach real-world challenges they'll face in the position.

The following four activities are designed to assess the essential competencies required for success as an Employer Branding Manager: innovation, communication, collaboration, analytical thinking, and adaptability. By incorporating these exercises into your hiring process, you'll gain deeper insights into each candidate's capabilities and fit for your organization's specific employer branding needs.

Activity #1: Employer Brand Audit and Strategy Development

This exercise evaluates a candidate's strategic thinking, analytical skills, and ability to develop data-driven employer branding initiatives. It reveals how they assess current brand positioning and identify opportunities for improvement.

Directions for the Company:

• Provide the candidate with access to your company's career page, social media profiles, Glassdoor/Indeed reviews, and 2-3 competitor career sites.
• Include basic information about your company culture, values, and current recruitment challenges.
• Allow candidates 48 hours to prepare their analysis and recommendations.
• Schedule a 30-minute presentation followed by 15 minutes of Q&A.
• Ensure key stakeholders from HR and marketing attend the presentation.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Conduct an audit of the company's current employer brand presence across provided channels.
• Identify 3-5 strengths and weaknesses in the current employer branding approach.
• Analyze how the company compares to competitors in attracting talent.
• Develop 3 strategic recommendations to enhance the employer brand, including:
• Target audience definition
• Key messaging pillars
• Channels for implementation
• Success metrics
• Prepare a 10-slide presentation outlining your findings and recommendations.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the presentation, provide immediate feedback on one aspect the candidate executed exceptionally well.
• Offer one constructive suggestion for improvement.
• Ask the candidate to verbally refine one of their strategic recommendations based on the feedback, allowing them to demonstrate adaptability and receptiveness to input.

Activity #2: Employee Story Content Creation

This exercise assesses a candidate's ability to create compelling content that authentically showcases company culture and employee experiences—a core responsibility of the Employer Branding Manager role.

Directions for the Company:

• Provide the candidate with a brief about an actual employee whose story could be featured (with permission).
• Include basic information about the employee's role, tenure, background, and 2-3 notable achievements or experiences at the company.
• Share your company's brand guidelines and examples of existing content.
• Allow candidates 24-48 hours to prepare their submission.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Based on the provided information, create two different content pieces featuring the employee's story:

1. A social media post (LinkedIn or Instagram) with appropriate visuals and copy
2. A short blog post (300-500 words) for the company careers page

• Ensure your content aligns with the company's brand voice while authentically highlighting aspects of the culture that would appeal to potential candidates.
• Include a brief explanation (1 paragraph) of why you chose to highlight specific aspects of the employee's story and how this content supports broader employer branding goals.

Feedback Mechanism:

• Provide specific feedback on the content's effectiveness, creativity, and alignment with brand guidelines.
• Highlight one element that was particularly strong and one area for improvement.
• Ask the candidate to revise one specific aspect of their submission based on your feedback (e.g., adjusting the tone, strengthening the call to action, or refining the visual approach).

Activity #3: Social Media Campaign Planning

This exercise evaluates the candidate's ability to develop strategic, multi-channel social media campaigns to enhance employer brand visibility and engagement—a critical skill for modern employer branding professionals.

Directions for the Company:

• Provide a specific employer branding objective (e.g., increasing applications for a hard-to-fill role, promoting a new workplace benefit, or highlighting diversity initiatives).
• Share basic information about target candidate personas and current social media performance metrics.
• Include access to your social media guidelines and examples of past campaigns.
• Allow 2-3 days for preparation.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Develop a 30-day social media campaign plan addressing the provided objective.
• Your plan should include:
• Campaign theme and key messages
• Content calendar with 8-10 post concepts across at least 3 platforms (e.g., LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok)
• Ideas for employee involvement
• Engagement strategies (hashtags, interactive elements, etc.)
• Success metrics and measurement approach
• Create mock-ups for 2 of the proposed posts (visual and copy).
• Prepare a brief (2-page maximum) campaign brief explaining your approach and rationale.

Feedback Mechanism:

• Provide feedback on the campaign's strategic alignment, creativity, and feasibility.
• Highlight one particularly innovative aspect of their proposal.
• Offer one suggestion regarding an element that could be strengthened or reconsidered.
• Ask the candidate to verbally explain how they would adjust their campaign based on this feedback, focusing on demonstrating flexibility and strategic thinking.

Activity #4: Employer Brand Metrics Analysis and Presentation

This exercise assesses the candidate's analytical capabilities and ability to translate data into actionable insights—essential skills for measuring and optimizing employer branding initiatives.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a dataset with anonymized employer branding metrics from the past 6-12 months, including:
• Social media engagement statistics
• Career site traffic and behavior
• Application conversion rates
• Candidate survey results
• Employer review site ratings
• Include some context about initiatives launched during this period.
• Allow candidates 48 hours to analyze the data and prepare their presentation.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Analyze the provided data to identify key trends, successes, and areas for improvement in the company's employer branding efforts.
• Prepare a 5-7 slide presentation that:
• Highlights 3-5 key insights from the data
• Identifies correlations between specific initiatives and measurable outcomes
• Recommends 3 data-driven actions to improve employer branding performance
• Suggests additional metrics that should be tracked going forward
• Be prepared to explain your analytical approach and how you prioritized certain insights over others.

Feedback Mechanism:

• Provide feedback on the candidate's analytical approach, clarity of presentation, and quality of recommendations.
• Highlight one particularly insightful observation they made from the data.
• Suggest one area where their analysis could be deepened or approach refined.
• Ask the candidate to elaborate on how they would implement one of their recommendations, incorporating the feedback you've provided.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time should we allocate for these work samples in our hiring process?

Each activity requires preparation time from candidates (typically 24-48 hours) plus time for presentation and feedback (30-45 minutes). We recommend selecting 1-2 activities most relevant to your immediate needs rather than using all four. Alternatively, you could use a simplified version of one activity during initial interviews and a more comprehensive version with finalists.

Should we compensate candidates for completing these work samples?

For activities requiring significant time investment (particularly Activities #1 and #3), we recommend offering compensation, especially for senior candidates. This demonstrates respect for their time and expertise while ensuring you receive thoughtful, quality submissions.

How can we ensure these activities don't disadvantage certain candidates?

Be flexible with timing to accommodate candidates with full-time jobs or caregiving responsibilities. Clearly communicate expectations and evaluation criteria upfront. Consider offering alternatives for candidates who may face technological barriers or have different working styles.

What if a candidate's approach differs significantly from our current employer branding strategy?

This can actually provide valuable insights! Evaluate the quality of their thinking and rationale rather than alignment with your existing approach. A fresh perspective might identify blind spots in your current strategy. Focus on whether their approach would effectively address the objectives, even if the execution style differs from your norm.

How should we weight these work samples compared to interviews and other assessments?

Work samples should be a significant factor in your evaluation, as they demonstrate applied skills rather than theoretical knowledge. However, they should be considered alongside cultural fit, interpersonal skills, and relevant experience. We recommend work samples account for approximately 40-50% of your overall assessment.

Can these activities be adapted for virtual hiring processes?

Absolutely! All these activities can be conducted remotely. Presentations can be delivered via video conferencing, and materials can be shared through collaborative platforms. For the social media exercise, digital mock-ups work perfectly. The key is ensuring clear communication about expectations and providing necessary access to information.

In conclusion, incorporating these work samples into your hiring process for an Employer Branding Manager will provide deeper insights into candidates' capabilities than traditional interviews alone. By observing how candidates approach real-world challenges, you'll be better equipped to identify individuals who can truly elevate your employer brand and attract top talent to your organization.

For more resources to enhance your hiring process, check out Yardstick's AI Job Description Generator, AI Interview Question Generator, and AI Interview Guide Generator. You can also find more information about the Employer Branding Manager role at our comprehensive job description guide.

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