Turning Interviews Into Employer Branding Moments

The employer brand doesn’t live in your careers page—it lives in your people. Johnny Campbell shares why interviews are a defining brand experience, and how managers can turn every conversation into a lasting impression.

Summary

In this episode of Advancing Talent Acquisition, Johnny Campbell, CEO and co-founder of Social Talent, explores how interviews have become one of the most overlooked opportunities for employer branding. He shares actionable insights on how hiring managers can enhance candidate experience through preparation, structure, and purpose-driven conversations. From avoiding bias and snap judgments to turning interviews into two-way conversations, Johnny challenges organizations to treat interviews as brand moments that reflect their culture. He also leaves listeners with a powerful reminder: be the CEO of your own career.

Episode 13

Jenna Hinrichsen  
Welcome to the Advanced RPO Podcast, Advancing Talent Acquisition. Our guest today is Johnny Campbell, co-founder and CEO of Social Talent. Welcome, Johnny. Will you tell us a little bit about your background? 

Johnny Campbell  
Pleasure, Jenna. Thanks for having me on the show. So Jenna, I’m just a lonely old recruiter, who, like most of us of our generation, my generation, I fell into this, this job straight out of university, I worked in recruiting since the late 90s. I worked in staffing for a long time. did accountancy recruiting, hire and qualified accountants for an industry for a long time. I moved to the Caribbean, ran a staffing agency, which was a temp at permit agency out there, which also did immigration permits and everything else.  
And then found myself in 2008, setting up my own recruiting business with a business partner, my current partner, Vince, in July, just as the recession hit and the world came tumbling down. But the upside of that was it was the beginning of the kind of age of social media, which was transforming recruiting. And we kind of got onto it fast out of necessity because we had to feed young babies, both of us, and we had to figure out how to use social media and we started teaching folks how to do it.  
That led us to set up a separate training company which became Social Talent. We showed down our staffing business and then Social Talent grew to the point where I couldn’t train any more people by myself. So we built an online platform, put all the content online. I ran out of ideas and so I wasn’t expert in everything. I was expert in one thing.  
And we started finding other brilliant experts and we now have a learning platform with over 120 experts teaching everything you need to know about hiring for recruiters, interviewers, hiring managers, and it’s probably the leading platform of the world for educating folks on how to do hiring really well. 

Jenna Hinrichsen  
Yeah, it’s really evolved. And I actually have done Johnny’s training back in, I think we were just talking about this 2014, so 10 years ago. And I still use things from that training that has really helped my So I’m excited to talk with Johnny today. Our topic that we’re gonna cover is turning interviews into an employer branding opportunity. So we’ll just jump right in. And Johnny, I wanna get your opinion on this. Most people would say that marketing and HR sort of own the employer brand. They’re the ones responsible for it, But who really owns it? I mean, when you look at a big picture, who really owns the employer brand? 

Johnny Campbell  
It’s like saying the PR company for a movie studio own how that movie is going to be received. They don’t. The audience own whether it’s a dud or a success. know, on Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB, and they’re going to tell you if it’s good or bad. You can do your best to promote it. So, you you look at who gets involved. HR, try to define this EVP or whatever initialism they’re using these days to try and say, this is what we’re all about, what we should be all about. Marketing, try and make sure it looks pretty on brand, right? Fonts, square, curved edges, whatever you want to have. 
But the candidates receive it in their own way. And in that sense, they’re probably more influenced by being in a hiring process and interacting with the people they meet in the hiring process than they are what you see on your website or you have on your Indeed job posts. So to me, you the candidate owns it in my book. They own the end result and HR, marketing, those other folks do their best to influence it, curate it, and dare I say manage it. But it really is down to how the hiring experience is lived. And that comes down to the candidate’s reception. 

Jenna Hinrichsen  
Yeah, and I think that’s so interesting because the company invests in all these resources and individuals to put out this brand, if you will. And then to your point, that’s what’s being put out, but that’s not necessarily what’s being taken in from the external standpoint. So if you’re not aligning those two things from the day-to-day interactions that your employees are having with, whether it’s your customers or your candidates, whatever it is, if that’s not aligned, then you’re wasting all this time and money and resources upfront building this brand perception that doesn’t really even exist in the marketplace. You said in a recent blog post, in interviews, the manager is the brand. Tell us what you mean by that. 

Johnny Campbell  
Well, first of all, not to get too philosophical. The idea of a brand is made up in our heads. It doesn’t actually exist. A company doesn’t actually exist. It’s something that we all agree as a society that this exists. And then we give it emotions and we say it’s a good brand, a bad brand, they’re evil, they’re not. Really, we’re always talking about people because they’re the only tangible thing that are real. People make the decision to open up a company to build a product, to make decisions that are good or bad. It’s actually people. And this is no more evident than when a candidate turns up at an interview. They open up a Zoom or a Teams call these days, Jenna. And whatever you’ve perceived of the company to get you there or not, it is all represented by the other person on the other side of that team or Zoom’s call. And, you know, if that person is brilliant, you love them, they’re nice, they’re like you. They seem to share your values. You think you can get on well with them. You’re like, I love that company. They were great. So I think, you know, the person who’s on the other end of that Zoom or Teams call, they are the embodiment of the brand. And they’re also actually who you work for. Nobody goes to work for Coca-Cola. Nobody goes to work for Exxon Oil. They go to work for people who are also employed by that company. And you work with colleagues who are in teams working for that company. It’s the people you work with and you work under a rule structure that’s made by those same people. You know, the real sense of what a company’s like to work for is their people, right? That’s the driver. 
Everyone you meet, if it’s consistent, you’ll start to think, you know what, if I met three people and they were all lovely and they all acted the same way, I can probably guess that everyone’s, or most people are the same way. If I meet three folks who are all completely different, I’ll think this company is crazy, and there’s nothing consistent, and it’s a negative experience. So it’s not just important for one person to show up and be the brand. That brand has to be consistent in everyone you engage with, and that’s arguably a harder challenge. 

Jenna Hinrichsen  
When we look back, like you were a recruiter, I’ve been a recruiter in my past for many years, you look back at like working with hiring managers and setting up interviews and there seemed to always be in my experience that the managers, the company is more important than the candidate. And so, yes, you’re interviewing for this company. I’m the hiring manager and I’m busy. didn’t, you know, I was late for the interview or I didn’t have time to show up today or I had a lot going on and I was distracted.  
It’s just not acceptable, right? Like you’re representing the company. And so that job that you’re doing at that time is equally important to anything else that you’re doing. And how you react in situations and how you treat people is exactly what you’re saying. That is the brand. But I don’t think a lot of hiring managers or individuals within a company see it that way. So I think this topic is a good one to continue to expand on. And you’ve got some really good insight on it. What are some things that managers do in interviews that can damage a company brand? So things that they’re probably not even thinking of, but let’s just get real honest here and say, you know, these are some things that managers do that leave candidates and the market feeling like, wow, I would not want to let alone go for a second interview work for this company. 

Johnny Campbell  
I think the first thing is just not being prepared. Like nothing says you’re not important like a manager skimming through the resume for the first time as you start the interview. So Jenna, you worked in career, no you don’t anymore. You work, hang on a second, where do you work? know, it’s just like, this person first of all doesn’t value me and doesn’t really value this role they’re hiring for. If this is how they treat me in an interview, what’s it going to be like when I need time off, when something’s going on in my life, when I need support? They’re not valuing me in their preparedness for this interview. So that’s the first thing. And managers go, well, I was too busy, and I’m a nice person. Give me a break. You’ve got to be prepared. You’ve got to show up, done your research, looked into someone’s background. It’s just respectful to do that. And it’s disrespectful not to.  
Second thing is just talk time. You know, it’s about the candidate. So first of all, you’re not going to be able to assess the talent unless the talent has an opportunity to speak more than you, right? That’s just, it’s a fact. And some managers just want to talk about the company, the role, why they’re great, why they need somebody, why the last person was useless, whatever that might be. So, you know, the amount of time you put into somebody like, you you go on a first date, it’s a long time since I went on the first date, Jenna, just as an FYI, but… You know, basic cheat sheet is ask lots of questions. know, I’ll admit it, Jenna, I like to talk about myself. I have loads of things to share, but I’ve learned over the years to shut up I think so anyway. And you know, even if somebody’s like, well, tell me about yourself. I had a call yesterday with somebody new and we only 30 minutes to talk. And I was like, even if they ask me a question, I’m going to redirect, go, hey, I have a question for you because people feel brilliant when you’re asking them questions and they’re getting an opportunity to talk. It’s just a reality. for a hiring manager or an interviewer, if you let the candidate talk more, you get two wins. One is you learn more about them so you can make a better decision on whether they’re right for the job. Second of all, they’ll walk away feeling better because they got to talk a lot. And everyone who gets to talk a usually feels brilliant because they are the center of attention.  
That’s the second thing. And to pick a third, it’s just letting your bias show, snap judgments, irrelevant questions, inconsistent process, asking stupid questions. These things show a potential bias and inconsistency that make a good candidate not want to work for you. I remember I interviewed for a job in a staffing agency back in 2000, 2002. And I met with the company and they were well known recruitment firm in Dublin. And the managing director was interviewing me and it was all going great. And he was telling me, you know, this job is mine. And I was like, this is great. And they start telling me why, why the last person wasn’t great. I was like, oh, okay. And he started telling me, he said, “You know, she was, she was our biggest biller, but you know what, Johnny, she was just, she was just too overweight.” That’s not the word he used.  
And I was like, and I’m there thinking, this is your biggest biller. She brought in more money than anybody else for you. And she resigned. And this is how you speak about her. I was just like, so so so these kind of comments are cues for folks. Even if you’re not asking somebody, hey, do you plan to have a kid or anything like that? You know, it’s comments about others that just show the type of person you are. You’re not fair. You have bias. And so those the kind of things that managers can do to really damage a company brand. Because again, you’re going to walk away going, that company is awful. Even though the truth is it was just one person. But the reality is that company shouldn’t let that happen. They should train that person, prepare that person, not let that person be on an interview if they’re going to act like that. 

Jenna Hinrichsen  
Yeah, and it’s like you’ve had to run into this where managers are comparing, hiring managers or people who are in the hiring process are comparing people to previous people. So this person had this in their background and they didn’t work out, so you’re not gonna work out. So talking about that bias that you brought up, you really have to go in, I feel like, with an open mind, kind of like in a court of law. Everything from your past is not involved in this. You cannot bring past employees, past companies, things into situations and then expect this person to fit into that mold or you’re ruining the experience for that interview just by having that perception that this person is not going to be a good candidate because they came from this company or that they’re going to be the best candidate because they came from this particular company. So I feel like you have to go in with a complete, clear, open mind and let that person have their own experience with you. Would you agree with that? 

Johnny Campbell  
100 % would. 100 % would. 

Jenna Hinrichsen  
Okay, good. One more question for you and then I have a question for you that I ask everyone in every podcast, which is actually one of my favorite questions. But let’s talk about some things that hiring managers should do in an interview to best represent the brand for their organization. So give us your top three things. What every manager should go into an interview checklist, they’ve done these things or they’re doing these things to represent the company, the job, everything in the best way possible. 

Johnny Campbell  
So the first foremost is structure. So you should have a consistent format, a plan of how you’re gonna assess every single candidate, how every single stage in the interview process is gonna work, how you’re breaking up the interview, what you want to get out of it. You should be planning to use behavioral-based or situational-based questions in that, or have a clear, robust assessment process. Be transparent about what you’re assessing for as well. And I always, I have that ready. And then the first thing I do in an interview, is I will say, “Hey, Jenna, just want to double check we still got 60 minutes. My plan is I’m going to spend the first 10 minutes doing X, then we’re going to do 30 minutes of Y, then we’re going to move to 15 minutes of X, and then we’re going close out with Z. Does that work for you? And I’ll try my best to keep on time.” And so the person goes, I know exactly what this hour is going to look like, what order we’re going to do it in. I know that that thing I really want to get to is going to happen, but it’s not going to happen first. It’s going to happen third, et cetera, et cetera. And it also says, this is a structured thing. These folks just treat this process seriously, they’ve thought of how to do it. So the structure is really important. Second thing to make sure to do is make sure you leave time to sell, but not just selling, this is a great job. But remember that folks want purpose, not just a paycheck. So explain why this role matters, how it connects to the bigger picture. That why is really important. Don’t just go through the motions of you’ll do the following. Why is that important? If this person didn’t exist, what would happen? 
So really connect that to the bigger mission. People wanna feel part of something bigger. So make sure you deliberately, know, thought about how you’re gonna position that. And third, you gotta leave space for them. It’s a two way conversation. Make sure that in that structure, you’ve left time for them to ask questions. I actually usually open with, do you wanna ask, because I often come in as the second interview or third interview. It just didn’t, where I typically fit in the hiring process. 
And so therefore I’ll say, do you want to take 10 minutes first of all to ask me any questions you’ve had since your last interview? Anything’s on the table, go for it. And then I’ll move into my assessment and I’ll move back to their last opportunity to ask questions. know, Jerry Crispin gave me some great advice years ago from the research that he’d done with the Canned Experience Awards and saying that the best question you can ask in any interview to close out is, is there anything that you haven’t had the opportunity to share or ask that you’d like to do before we close?  
So that just in case there was one thing the candidate wanted to share that they feel is important to share for them to be assessed correctly, they’re given that opportunity. So leaving that space to listen is more than just giving 10 minutes. It might be in the questions you ask, the framing to give some of the opportunity to close out and make sure they leave going, I have given that person everything I can to try and convince them that I’m right for that job. 

Jenna Hinrichsen  
Yes, yeah, I think that’s great. I think it’s important to make sure the candidates feel that they’re part of the process, that you weren’t even, even using a structured interview, I think, agree with you, it’s critically important, but you’re not a robot going through the motions, you genuinely care. And you want to hear what this person thinks and what they have to say, because it does help you determine if this is the right role for the person. So I think those are great.  
Hopefully hiring managers will take note and start adding those in. One last question for you. Again, I like to ask every guest on the podcast this question and the answers are always so different. And I think that it’s such an interesting question. So what is your top career tip that you’d like to share with our listeners? So it doesn’t have to be specific to this topic, but looking back on your career and what you’ve learned, what is one thing that really stands out that if you could pass along to individuals, what would that one thing be? 

Johnny Campbell  
So I’d say it’s be the CEO of your own career. Like you are in charge of this. Do not let others dictate where you have to go. So that might be the case for the job you do. You have to kind of listen to your boss and you have to do what they say. But for your career, it’s remember that you’re in the driving seat and as a CEO of your own career, that doesn’t just mean that you’re responsible for decisions. You gotta do some work, right? You gotta think about, where am I going? What do I not have that I need to get? Who do I need to work with? Want to work with as well. What experiences do I need to gain to flesh out my career to get to where I want to go next? What environments do I want to work with? What people do I want to work with? What skills should I be investing in? And have that knowledge. 
And when you go and you look for internal moves, when you look for promotion, when you look for an external move, be thinking about that, not just, I want to get a bigger job title and more money. That’s lazy. It’s kind of thinking about the bigger picture of where might I want to go to? Because you don’t typically leap from one job to a fantastic job. There’s incremental steps that get you there. And that’s what you can control. It’s OK.  
I gained this experience working overseas or working with a different team or I worked on a project or got involved in some software system or I got to basically do volunteering that gave me some experience that I can now share. All those small things add up and give you the power to then go for that next career move or pursue your career. But it’s a job, know? Life isn’t gonna just happen to you. You gotta work at it. I founded my own business. I’ve been driving this forever. I didn’t do it for the money. Maybe I did it at the start, but I’d be foolish to just deal with the money. I did it because I like the control. I like to be in charge of it. I like to drive that. I’m not waiting for somebody else to tell me what job I get next year. I think for most of us, we are in an organization where we are waiting to be told, but there’s a lot you can do to take control of your career. So be that CEO. 

Jenna Hinrichsen 
And I think that’s so important and it’s something I’ve always focused on myself too. It’s advice that I got from my dad when I was younger, very similar advice, but really taking ownership of that. You’re not gonna just get handed things in life. And so to think that like you just show up and do a good job every day, put your head down, work, someone’s gonna come and put a big package on your desk with a promotion. I think that I’ve been very successful in my career, but I’ve gone after everything that I’ve gotten in my career. Nobody’s come to me and said, “You know, you’re doing such a great job, we want to promote you to this, or we want to move you up in this.” I have planted the seeds to get myself there every single time. And I would guess that most successful people would say the same thing. 

Johnny Campbell  
I think that’s the point. Successful people will say it they’ve done the hard work and that’s what you need to do. That is one of biggest secrets to success is that it is hard work. 

Jenna Hinrichsen  
Yeah, it is. Yep, it’s not easy. And every day you’ve got to be focusing on the things that are going to get you there. It’s that consistency. So I think that’s a great tip. This is awesome. Thank you so much for doing this. I appreciate you sharing your insights. And I think this is such an important topic that companies need to really be looking at and making sure that they’re aligned. ⁓ Thank you for joining us today, Johnny. And then for our listeners, please subscribe to this podcast. And if there’s a topic that we haven’t covered yet that you’re interested in having us cover, please mention that in the comments and we’ll pick that up for a future conversation. Thank you again and we’ll see you next time. 

About Johnny Campbell