Dive Brief:

• Netflix is the employer brand tech workers most want to work for, according to a new report by Hired; Google, Tesla, SpaceX and Airbnb followed. Hired's 2018 Global Brand Health Report aims to help employers improve their brand and clarify what job seekers want most from a job.  
• What goes into an appealing brand? According to the study, the factors that applicants keep in mind during the job hunt include compensation and benefits (55%), company culture (45%), a chance to learn new skills (44%), challenging technical problem-solving (29%) and the team (28%).
• But employers can dampen their chances with top applicants if they aren't careful. While employers may be able to do little about disinterest in the product — the top reason applicants turned away — a poor reputation (46%), disinterest in the mission (41%) and a negative culture (36%) can all drive talent to competitors instead.

Dive Insight:

Netflix has garnered much good will for its culture-forward efforts based on the now-famous Netflix Culture Deck and its branding as a workplace of "freedom and responsibility." Netflix built its brand by going against the norms of the time and creating a culture where its people could do the work the company needed; as reflected in this report, culture is now second only to pay when talent considers where to apply.

Salary reigns in other, similar surveys, as well. But increasingly, employers have to both build a strong company culture and spread the word about their employee experience to attract top candidates. Employers are not great at this yet, some employment experts have noted, as many companies miss an opportunity to promote their brand during the recruiting process.

Job ads should play up an employer's assets as a workplace of choice and should be personalized, with the help of technology, to improve the candidate experience.  HR also stands to benefit form focusing on branding; HR leaders who prioritize recruitment marketing have seen their talent acquisition budgets​ rise by 45%, nearly double that of those who don't, according to Beamery's "State of Recruitment Marketing 2018" report.