With all the buzz around ChatGPT, Gemini, and other generative AI tools, you might think every job seeker is leveraging these technologies to gain an edge. Headlines suggest AI has completely transformed the job application landscape, with candidates using it for everything from CV creation to interview preparation.
But how widespread is it? PeopleScout’s recent research reveals a more nuanced picture of how job seekers are actually incorporating AI into their search process. Our comprehensive study, The AI-Enabled Applicant: How Candidates Are Really Using Gen AI in Recruitment, offers surprising insights that challenge common assumptions about AI’s prevalence amongst UK job hunters.
The infographic below highlights key findings that talent acquisition professionals and hiring managers should consider when evaluating their recruitment strategies in today’s AI-influenced landscape.
These findings present a more balanced view of AI’s role in recruitment than many headlines suggest. While generative AI tools are certainly making an impact, they haven’t revolutionized job seeking to the extent many predicted. Less than 20% of recent job changers in the UK used AI at all, with adoption varying significantly by age and education level.
For talent acquisition leaders, this data suggests an opportunity to develop thoughtful policies around AI use. The lack of communication about AI expectations (with only 5% of job changers reporting employers mentioning AI) points to a need for greater transparency. Organizations might consider clarifying their stance on AI usage while recognizing that many candidates find these tools genuinely helpful in navigating the application process.
As AI technology continues to evolve, staying informed about actual usage patterns—rather than assuming widespread adoption—will help recruiters make more effective decisions about how to design fair, efficient hiring processes that account for the reality of candidates’ Gen AI use.
Generative AI (Gen AI) is disrupting the job-seeking landscape, offering powerful tools that transform CVs, résumés, cover letters and interview preparation. Despite this technological shift, our research, The AI-Enabled Applicant: How Candidates Are Really Using Gen AI in Recruitment, indicates a surprising adoption gap—only one in five UK job seekers currently leverage these AI capabilities. Nevertheless, employers remain concerned about candidates potentially using AI to embellish or misrepresent their qualifications and experience.
This article marks the third installment in our series examining the implications of our research findings on Gen AI’s role in recruitment. As these technologies continue to reshape hiring practices, organisations must evolve their approaches to preserve assessment integrity while efficiently identifying exceptional talent. Drawing from our research, we’ve developed several actionable strategies for navigating this new reality:
Set Clear Expectations on AI Usage
Be transparent about your stance on Gen AI usage throughout the application process. Rather than implementing blanket bans that may be impossible to enforce, consider:
Providing specific guidelines on acceptable AI use (e.g., “Gen AI may be used to help with formatting and improving your CV but not in a way that falsely represents your skills or experience”)
Explaining the rationale behind restrictions to encourage candidate adherence
Including explicit statements in job descriptions and application platforms about AI usage policies and potential consequences for use of Gen AI to create inauthentic applications or assessments
Clear communication and transparency about how you expect candidates to use (or not use) Gen AI not only helps encourage appropriate candidate application approaches but also demonstrates organisational integrity in an increasingly AI-influenced world.
Resist Abandoning Proven Methods
Despite vendors claiming to offer “ChatGPT-proof” and “bias free” online assessments, our assessment psychology experts say caution is warranted:
There is currently limited evidence supporting the effectiveness of many new “AI-proof” assessment methods.
Hastily implemented solutions may introduce new biases or inefficiencies—doing more harm than good.
Completely abandoning traditional methods could disrupt established recruitment pipelines.
Instead, maintain a balanced approach. Focus on strengthening existing processes with strategic modifications that address specific vulnerabilities to Gen AI manipulation. Regularly evaluate and update your processes to respond to emerging AI capabilities.
Make Application Questions Personal
Generic questions are particularly vulnerable to AI-generated answers. Design questions that elicit unique, authentic responses, like:
Asking candidates to draw from own unique experience
Requesting concrete examples of how they’ve demonstrated particular skills or values
Incorporating questions about personal motivation and alignment with organisational culture that require genuine self-reflection
Questions that require candidates to draw from their unique backgrounds and perspectives are inherently more difficult for Gen AI to generate strong and credible answers.
Develop Unique Questions
Create bespoke evaluation components. Standard questions are easily accessible online and therefore vulnerable to Gen AI assistance. Instead:
Develop application questions specific to your organisation’s values, challenges and opportunities
Design scenario-based questions that relate directly to the unique aspects of the role
Request detailed responses that demonstrate depth of understanding rather than surface-level knowledge
Questions that are specific to your organisation and the role push candidates to think beyond any scripted answers. Not only does this reduce the effectiveness of Gen AI, but it’s also better at uncovering candidates’ genuine interest and cultural fit.
Implement Verification Strategies
Consider validating CV and application content by:
Referencing and discussing application content during face-to-face interviews
Asking candidates to elaborate on or defend specific points from their CV or written applications
Implementing a verification process for all candidates or for a sample
Informing candidates in advance that verification will occur can itself serve as a deterrent to Gen AI misuse.
Prioritise In-Person Interviews and Assessments
Maximise the value of human interaction. While resource-intensive, in-person interviews and assessments remain among the most reliable methods for evaluating candidates in the Gen AI era:
Design high-quality, job-related interview questions with clear evaluation criteria.
Train interviewers to probe for authenticity and consistent understanding of claimed experiences.
Incorporate practical demonstrations or simulations that require candidates to apply skills in real-time.
The combination of well-designed questions and simulations, and skilled interviewers and assessors, creates an environment where assistance from Gen AI provides minimal advantage.
Apply Caution with Detection Technologies
Evaluate AI detection tools critically. While numerous AI detection solutions have emerged, their effectiveness remains questionable. Our assessment psychology experts warn:
We see little to no evidence that they work effectively.
Implementation can be costly and complex.
There are potential fairness concerns, particularly for candidates from diverse backgrounds.
If considering detection tools, thoroughly evaluate their accuracy and review potential biases. Ensure there is a robust defence case in place to protect against any legal claim made by someone rejected due to assumed detection of Gen AI use. If the decision is made to use them, consider them as just one element of a comprehensive strategy, in line with new restrictions emerging from the new EU laws around Gen AI use, rather than a standalone solution.
Conclusion
By implementing these practical strategies, organisations can navigate the evolving landscape of AI in recruitment while maintaining the integrity of their selection processes. The goal is not to eliminate Gen AI usage from the recruitment process entirely, but rather to ensure that human capabilities and potential remain at the centre of hiring decisions.
To help organisations make more informed decisions, PeopleScout’s Assessment Design & Delivery team offers a Gen AI Opportunity & Risk Assessment Audit. This comprehensive review of the recruitment process identifies both vulnerabilities and opportunities related to generative AI throughout the candidate journey. Our assessment psychologists give you evidence-based recommendations to help you focus resources on critical vulnerability points, protecting your selection accuracy and diversity outcomes.
Attracting and retaining top talent goes beyond offering a good salary. Candidates are looking for more than just a job; they’re seeking a purpose, a positive culture, and a company that aligns with their values. This is where employer branding comes in. But what is employer branding, exactly?
Simply put, the employer branding definition is your company’s reputation as an employer—the unique identity you present to both your current employees and prospective hires. It’s an individual’s perceptions and lived experiences of what it’s like to work for your organization. Think of it as your company’s promise to its employees—what it’s like to work for you, the values you uphold and the employee experience you provide.
Understanding what employer branding is is just the first step. The real question is, why should you invest in it? The benefits of a strong employer branding strategy are multifaceted and directly impact your organization’s bottom line:
Attract Top Talent: A strong employer brand makes your company more appealing to highly skilled individuals. When candidates perceive your organization as a desirable place to work, you naturally attract a larger and more qualified talent pool. This significantly reduces time-to-hire and the cost of recruitment.
Reduce Recruitment Costs: With a positive reputation, you’ll spend less on advertising and external recruitment agencies. Candidates will be actively seeking you out, rather than the other way around. This improved candidate experience leads to more efficient hiring.
Boost Employee Engagement and Productivity: A strong employer brand fosters a sense of belonging and pride among your existing workforce. Engaged employees are more productive, innovative, and committed to the company’s goals. This contributes to a healthier and more dynamic workplace culture.
Improve Employee Retention: Employer branding isn’t just about attracting new hires; it’s also about keeping your current ones happy. A positive employer brand reinforces employee loyalty and satisfaction, reducing turnover rates. When employees feel valued and proud of where they work, they’re less likely to look elsewhere.
Enhance Business Reputation: Your reputation as an employer directly impacts your overall business reputation. Companies known for their excellent employer brand are often perceived as more trustworthy and successful in the market, attracting not only talent but also customers and investors.
What is an Employer Value Proposition (EVP)?
Integral to understanding what an employer brand is is grasping the concept of an Employer Value Proposition (EVP). Your EVP is the heart of your employer brand.
The employee value proposition (EVP) is a clear articulation of why your target talent should work for your company over competitors. It captures the essence of your uniqueness as an employer, the “give and get” between you and your employees.
Once defined, this proposition is a powerful tool and the foundation of any employer brand management strategy. We think of the EVP as a guiding “north star” for all employer brand activities.
A well-defined EVP and employer brand encompasses:
Compensation & Benefits: Base salary, bonuses, health insurance coverage, retirement plans and paid time off.
Career Pathways & Development: Opportunities for learning, growth, promotions and skill development.
Work Environment: Company culture, team dynamics, work-life balance, flexibility and physical workspace.
Company Culture: Values, mission, leadership style, recognition programs and a sense of community.
Impact & Purpose: The meaningfulness of the work, the company’s societal contributions and how individual roles contribute to the bigger picture.
Your EVP defines what makes your company a unique and desirable place to work. It’s what you promise to your employees, and effectively communicating this promise is the cornerstone of a strong employer branding strategy.
Key Components of a Winning Employer Brand Strategy
In addition to defining your EVP, developing a robust employer branding strategy involves several crucial elements. The Outthink Index by PeopleScout evaluates employer brand across nine segments:
Employee Experience
Modern employees seek comprehensive support beyond salary, including professional growth, well-being, and alignment with personal values. Your employer brand should showcase flexible work policies, benefits, diversity initiatives, career development opportunities and work-life balance on their career pages and candidate touchpoints.
Content Strategy
Content serves as the primary vehicle for telling your employer brand story through various formats like social media, videos, testimonials and digital experiences. Effective content should provide authentic insights, demonstrate company values in action, create emotional connections with candidates and establish credibility while differentiating from competitors.
Social Media Presence
With the majority of job seekers using social media in their search, these platforms are critical for a strong employer brand. The Outthink Index evaluates social media strategy through three dimensions: Reach (consistent posting and employee advocacy), Authority (thought leadership and industry expertise), and Impact (meaningful metrics like engagement rates and candidate conversion).
Search Optimization
SEO is crucial for employer branding since hundreds of millions of job searches occur monthly through search engines. Organizations must optimize job postings and career sites with strategic keywords, ensure mobile-friendliness, integrate with relevant job boards, and create easy-to-navigate career sites to appear in top search results.
User Experience
User experience (UX) encompasses every digital touchpoint in a candidate’s journey from discovery to application completion, serving as a virtual window into workplace environment. Critical UX elements include mobile-first design, intuitive navigation, fast loading times, accessible content, and seamless integration across platforms to prevent losing potential applicants.
Candidate Experience
The candidate experience serves as the most authentic advertisement for your employer brand, with every interaction showcasing organizational values and culture. Key elements include clear job descriptions, transparent processes, regular communication, constructive feedback, and streamlined interviews, especially since candidates could share negative experiences online.
How to Improve Employer Branding
So, you understand what employer branding is and why it’s importance. Now it’s time to ask how to improve employer brand? Here are actionable steps:
Benchmark Your Employer Brand: Use the Outthink Index to see how your current employer brand stacks up against other organizations in your industry. The Outthink Index is an interactive tool that lets you compare your employer brand across critical touchpoints—from social presence to candidate experience and employee engagement. It’s the perfect starting point to identify opportunities to enhance your employer brand. Contact us to receive your custom Outthink Index report.
Conduct an Audit: Start by gathering feedback from your current employees. Use surveys, focus groups, and exit interviews to understand their perceptions of working at your company. What are their pain points? What do they love? This internal perspective is invaluable for shaping your employer brand messaging.
Craft Your Story: Authenticity is key. Share compelling stories about your company culture, employee successes, and the impact your organization makes. Utilize various channels like your career site, social media, employee testimonials and blog posts to showcase your employer brand messaging.
Engage on Social Media: Use platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and even TikTok to showcase your company culture. Share behind-the-scenes glimpses, employee spotlights and company events. Respond to comments and engage with your audience.
Leverage Employee Advocacy: Your current employees are your best brand ambassadors. Encourage them to share their experiences and become advocates for your company. Employee generated content (EGC) is incredibly powerful and believable because genuine testimonials are far more impactful than corporate messaging.
Optimize Your Online Presence: Your career website is often the first point of contact for potential hires. Ensure it’s informative, engaging and reflective of your employer brand. Maintain an active and positive presence on professional networking sites and social media platforms.
Measure and Adapt: Employer branding is an ongoing process. Regularly assess the effectiveness of your strategy through surveys, feedback and key recruitment metrics. Be prepared to adapt and evolve your approach based on insights and changing market trends.
Employer Brand & RPO: A Strategic Partnership
When seeking to build or enhance your employer brand, considering a partnership with a Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) provider that specializes in employer branding can be a highly advantageous move. An RPO is more than just a staffing agency; it’s a strategic partnership where an external provider manages all or part of your recruitment functions.
An RPO with extensive employer brand expertise integrates employer brand strategy directly into the hiring workflow, ensuring consistency and effectiveness from the very first candidate touchpoint. This holistic approach ensures that your employer brand isn’t just a marketing exercise but is woven into every aspect of your talent acquisition process.
RPO + Employer Brand Agency: PeopleScout Offers the Best of Both
While an employer branding agency can offer valuable creative and strategic guidance, an RPO partner with inherent employer branding capabilities provides a deeper, more integrated solution. PeopleScout offers the best of both with one of the largest in-house talent advisory teams in the industry.
Holistic Integration: As both employer brand agency and RPO, we deliver an employer brand strategy or campaign and then implement it throughout the recruitment process daily. This means your employer brand isn’t just designed; it’s actively lived and reinforced through every candidate interaction, from initial outreach to onboarding. Our recruitment delivery teams ensure your EVP is reflected in job descriptions, interview processes and candidate communications.
Real-Time Data & Iteration: We are constantly engaged in the recruitment market, gaining real-time access to data on candidate perceptions, response rates and market trends. This allows us to gather immediate feedback and make iterative adjustments to your employer branding strategy, ensuring it remains effective and responsive to the talent market. Other agencies might provide periodic reports, but we offer continuous optimization.
Efficiency & Cost-Effectiveness: By offering both RPO and talent advisory solutions, PeopleScout can offer significant cost savings compared to building an internal team or managing multiple external vendors (like an agency for branding and another for recruitment execution). The integration of employer branding within our core service streamlines the entire process.
Scalability & Agility: Our RPO solutions offer flexibility to scale recruitment efforts up or down quickly, adapting to your changing hiring needs. This includes scaling employer branding activities in parallel. Leveraging a separate employer brand agency might require new contracts or project scopes for increased demand, whereas we can embed it in our operational flow.
Accountability for Recruitment Outcomes: Ultimately, an RPO is accountable for filling your open roles. With our extensive expertise in employer branding, we directly link brand strength to recruitment success metrics (e.g., time-to-hire, quality of hire, cost-per-hire). An employer branding agency’s accountability typically ends with the delivery of brand assets or a campaign.
By choosing an RPO with robust employer branding capabilities, you gain a strategic partner that not only understands what employer branding is but actively embeds it into every step of your talent acquisition lifecycle, leading to superior hiring outcomes and a more compelling presence in the talent market.
The Future of Work and Employer Branding
As the world of work continues to evolve, so too does the importance of employer branding. Companies that invest in clearly defining and promoting their employer brand will be the ones that thrive. By answering the question “What is an employer brand?” and committing to a thoughtful, authentic strategy, your organization can build a magnetic reputation that attracts, engages, and retains the talent essential for future success.
The intersection of generative AI (Gen AI) and job seeking has garnered significant attention, with numerous tools available to help candidates with résumés, CVs, cover letters and interview preparation. Media coverage suggests widespread adoption, but actual prevalence isn’t that clear.
To move beyond the hype and establish a clearer picture of the use of Gen AI across the broad population of job seekers, PeopleScout commissioned YouGov to conduct a comprehensive survey of 1,000 members of the UK public who had changed jobs within the previous 12 months. Our new research report, The AI-Enabled Applicant: How Candidates Are Really Using Gen AI in Recruitment, aims to provide clarity on real usage patterns and to better understand the potential implications for recruitment—especially amongst concerns that candidates might use these technologies to misrepresent their skills and experiences.
This article is the first in a series exploring the data and grappling with the implications of Gen AI use amongst candidates. Read on for three key findings from our report.
1. Gen AI Usage Amongst Candidates Isn’t as Prevalent as You Might Think
While media narratives often portray Gen AI usage as nearly universal among job seekers, our research indicates a more measured reality. Our study reveals that fewer than one in five people (18%) who changed jobs in the UK in the last year used Gen AI at any point in their job search.
This is considerably lower than media reports have suggested, and it’s lower than we were expecting given Gen AI tools have been freely available since November 2022. This calls for a reality check on the hype.
It’s easy to see how employers could see media content—alongside indicators of Gen AI use in their own candidate pools—and overestimate the frequency of Gen AI-enhanced applications. However, at this point the evidence suggests that the vast majority of job seekers from the general population are not using Gen AI to assist their job search or applications.
2. Interviews Seem Safe…For Now
Just 9% of those using Gen AI at any point in the recruitment process used it to support their pre-recorded interviews. This was unexpectedly low, given the number using it to help with résumés, CVs and applications. It may be that its value in helping to prepare and practice for interviews is less well understood or harder to achieve. For example, Gen AI tools may need more sophisticated prompting to get high quality support for interview preparation.
For candidates who used Gen AI at some point and who had a live virtual interview as part of their selection process, only 8% used Gen AI to help with this but, significantly, almost half of this group disclosed that they had used it for live support during the interview. Live interviews were previously a protected space from Gen AI use, and although this is reported by just handful of job seekers, it clearly suggests that real-time assistance during live virtual interviews is happening—and we would assume this is likely to increase.
It isn’t evident from our survey exactly what type of live Gen AI assistance candidates were using, but newer Gen AI capabilities of ‘listening’ and responding in real time with a conversational style could allow candidates to deliver inauthentic answers without detection. This is something employers are likely to want to keep under observation and consider acting on, redesigning interview questions to make it harder to use Gen AI for deceptive purposes. Despite this, our survey indicates that this kind of potentially disruptive use is low amongst job changers and not a major cause for alarm at this point.
3. No One’s Talking About It
Perhaps most revealing for employers is that of those applicants who used Gen AI, only 38% would be willing to disclose their use to employers. The remaining 62% either wouldn’t disclose or are uncertain about whether they would—a concerning reality check for employers attempting to protect the integrity of their recruitment process.
It begs the question—could this behaviour be driven by employers? According to our survey, employers rarely mention Gen AI usage in their communications with candidates. Only 5% of all job changers said their future employers spoke to them about Gen AI during the recruitment process. And for the few who did hear about it during recruitment,, 35% were told not to use it.
The number of employers failing to communicate about AI in recruiting may contribute to candidates’ reluctance to discuss their Gen AI usage with employers due to an assumption that employers’ silence on the matter indicates that Gen AI use is inappropriate or unacceptable, and to reveal use of it would negatively impact their chances of getting an offer.
Gen AI Opportunities & Risks
Navigating this complex landscape effectively often requires specialized expertise and support. Working with a talent partner with deep assessment expertise can provide crucial advantages in maintaining recruitment integrity while achieving business objectives.
As leading providers of talent assessment solutions, PeopleScout’s Assessment Design & Delivery team offers a Gen AI Opportunity & Risk Assessment Audit to provide organizations with a comprehensive review of their recruitment processes, identifying both vulnerabilities and opportunities related to generative AI throughout the candidate journey. This independent audit, grounded in psychological expertise, stress-tests each assessment element within your specific recruitment context to determine how Gen AI might impact selection accuracy and diversity outcomes. The resulting evidence-based recommendations allow employers to strategically focus resources on critical vulnerability points while potentially leveraging beneficial AI uses, enabling informed decisions about whether to accept, prevent or adapt to candidates’ use of Gen AI tools based on your organizational values and objectives.
How Candidates Are Really Using Gen AI in Recruitment
Is generative AI (Gen AI) disrupting your recruitment process? Our exclusive research with YouGov unveils what’s actually happening right now—and the results might surprise you.
While headlines scream about AI taking over job applications, our fresh data shows the nuanced reality of how candidates in the UK are really using these tools in 2025.
In this comprehensive report, you’ll discover:
The true adoption rate of Gen AI by job seekers (spoiler: it’s not what most experts predicted)
Which specific recruiting touchpoints are most vulnerable to Gen AI impact
Unexpected findings about candidate attitudes toward disclosing Gen AI usage
Actionable strategies to protect assessment integrity without fighting technology
Don’t Base Critical Hiring Decisions on Outdated Information
As some organizations implement extreme measures like blanket AI bans, others are finding smarter, more sustainable approaches that embrace innovation while maintaining recruitment quality. Download the report now to get ahead of this rapidly evolving challenge and transform potential threats into competitive advantages for your recruitment strategy.
In today’s competitive talent landscape, your employer brand isn’t just nice to have—it’s essential for survival. Our comprehensive ebook delivers actionable strategies to revolutionize how candidates perceive your organization.
Why This Guide Matters to Your Organization:
82% of candidates research your reputation before applying
Companies with strong employer brands see a 43% decrease in cost-per-hire
Yet only 8% of HR leaders have dedicated employer branding budgets
What You’ll Discover:
Proven frameworks to align your employer brand with business objectives
Practical strategies to authentically showcase your culture across channels
Step-by-step approaches to measure and optimize your employer brand ROI
Real-world case studies from organizations that transformed their talent attraction
While your competition invests in employer branding, can you afford to fall behind? Download our guide today and build the magnetic employer brand your organization deserves.
With the research today’s candidates do before applying, a strong employer brand is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s essential. Your employer brand directly impacts your ability to attract and retain top talent, yet for many talent acquisition leaders, demonstrating the value of employer branding remains challenging.
How do you quantify something that often feels intangible? How do you translate employer brand sentiment into metrics that resonate with stakeholders outside HR?
The Employer Branding Paradox
Despite 80% of HR leaders believing employer branding significantly impacts their recruiting efforts, only 8% report having a dedicated budget for these initiatives. This disconnect highlights a fundamental challenge: without concrete metrics and benchmarks, employer branding can be relegated to a “nice-to-have” rather than recognized as the strategic driver of recruitment success that it truly is.
The reality is that today’s candidates approach job searches with consumer-like behavior. They research, compare and evaluate potential employers with unprecedented thoroughness.
Your employer brand is front and center whether you’re actively managing it or not.
From Gut Feel to Data-Driven Strategy
For too long, employer branding has relied on subjective assessments and anecdotal evidence. Leaders might know intuitively that their brand needs improvement, but without comparative data, it’s difficult to:
Identify specific areas requiring attention
Prioritize investments for maximum impact
Demonstrate ROI to key stakeholders
Track progress over time
Understand how you stack up against competitors
This is precisely why we’ve developed the Outthink Index—a proprietary benchmarking tool designed to transform employer branding strategy from an art to a science.
Introducing the Outthink Index by PeopleScout
The Outthink Index by PeopleScout provides comprehensive analysis across nine critical components of employer branding:
Search: Are your job openings easy to find in digital spaces?
Social Reach: What’s the breadth of your social media footprint? Are you achieving significant reach through interactions and engagement across audiences?
Social Authority: How much of the conversation does your brand own compared to competitors? How influential is your voice in the talent marketplace?
Social Impact: How effectively does your content engage your audience? Are you interacting with your talent audience on social media or just posting?
Values & Proposition: How clearly articulated and differentiated is your EVP? Are your values clear, authentic and evidenced?
Employee Experience: Can candidates get a clear understanding of what life is like within your organization?
Content: How compelling and relevant is your employer brand content? How authentically does it showcase your organization and your employees?
User Experience: How seamless and intuitive is your career site and application process?
Candidate Experience: How transparent, consistent and innovative is your recruitment process?
Built by our in-house talent advisory experts and leveraging data from hundreds of employer brands, the Outthink Index delivers actionable insights with just a few clicks.
Translating Insights to Action
One of the most valuable aspects of the Outthink Index is its comparative nature. While self-assessment can identify obvious gaps, true optimization comes from understanding how you measure against both industry benchmarks and specific competitors.
The real power of data-driven employer branding isn’t just in the metrics—it’s in what you do with them. The Outthink Index is designed to facilitate more productive conversations with stakeholders by providing concrete evidence of:
Current employer brand strengths and weaknesses
Competitive positioning within your industry
Specific improvement opportunities with the highest potential ROI
Progress tracking over time
The Outthink Index helps companies to transcend gut instincts and harness concrete insights to maximize their employer brand. It provides organizations with precise visibility into how their brand measures up against competitors, highlights specific enhancement opportunities, and ultimately strengthens their capacity to attract and retain exceptional talent.
Armed with these insights, talent leaders can make more strategic decisions about where to invest resources, how to refine messaging and which touchpoints in the candidate journey need the most attention.
The Future of Employer Branding is Data-Driven
Employer branding isn’t a one-time project but an ongoing strategic initiative. The Outthink Index provides both a snapshot of current performance and a framework for optimizing and measuring progress over time. By establishing clear benchmarks today, organizations can track the impact of their employer branding initiatives, demonstrate concrete ROI and continuously refine their approach.
As the competition for talent continues to intensify, organizations that take a data-driven approach to employer branding will gain a significant advantage. The Outthink Index by PeopleScout equips talent leaders with the tools they need to transform employer branding from an intangible concept to a measurable business driver.
Want to see how your employer brand stacks up? Explore the Outthink Index or contact us to receive your custom report.
Wates: Reconstructing Industry Perceptions Through Vibrant Employer Branding
PeopleScout helped Wates to attract and engage a wider range of candidates to the male-dominated construction industry through a vibrant and inclusive employer brand and assessment center.
7,918applications generated (30% from women)
343candidates assessed
1 /3of offers went to women despite being underrepresented in the industry
Situation
The construction industry’s image has remained virtually unchanged for years—dominated by hard-hats, high-vis, and steel beams rather than stories highlighting inclusion, innovation, collaboration or opportunity.
When Wates, a UK development, building and property maintenance company, needed to recruit 81 trainees across 21 roles and 28 locations, our priority was to stand out meaningfully in a crowded market. Despite its impressive 125-year legacy as an industry leader, Wates suffered from limited brand awareness.
Our objectives were clear:
Raise overall awareness of the Wates organization
Encourage a shift in industry perception
Attract a more diverse range of candidates
Solution
With these hard-to-fill roles distributed nationwide, we needed a targeted approach. Based on research, we developed four distinct audience personas that represented our target demographics, which then informed our channel strategy and creative approach.
Authentic Messaging
We crafted a new compelling, narrative that brought together everything Wates stands for:
Creating tomorrow together.
Headlines embodied Wates’ core values, speaking directly to the impact individuals would have on the company’s legacy while highlighting key benefits of joining the organization.
Distinctive Visual Identity
We developed bold, vibrant visuals that stood apart from industry norms. Our creative approach demonstrated how professional and personal lives intertwine, visually representing work-life balance and inclusivity. A dedicated photoshoot allowed us to not only capture images but also collect employee stories that inspired a bespoke set of illustrations.
Inclusive Assessment Process
We redesigned the video interview process to ensure accessibility for all candidates. While maintaining a standardized process to ensure fairness, each of the 21 roles required careful manual shortlisting based on performance metrics. With 343 candidates advancing to assessment, we conducted virtual assessment centers over three weeks, with each role getting a dedicated day.
Results
The campaign generated exceptional engagement:
518,000 impressions (40% from TikTok)
7,918 applications
2,022 candidates invited to video interview
343 candidates progressed to assessment centers
30% female representation at application stage, increasing to 34% at offer stage
117 offers extended
“We’re delighted with the quality of candidate applications and how much the collaborative work ethic stood out.”
– Annette, Wates
At a Glance
COMPANY Wates
INDUSTRY Building & Construction
PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS Talent Advisory
ABOUT WATES The Wates Group was established in 1897 and is one of the leading privately-owned, construction, development and property services companies in the UK. They employ almost 6,000 people, working with a range of clients and partners from across the public and private sectors.
My children are about eight to nine years away from entering the world of work. As a parent, it’s both exciting and daunting to think about the future careers of my children. With rapid advancements in technology and shifts in the global economy, the job market of today will undoubtedly look very different in 10 years when my kids are entering the workforce.
While automation will displace many jobs, it will also create new jobs, generating significant benefits for businesses and economies by lifting productivity and economic growth. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, by 2030, the creation of 170 million new jobs (14% of today’s employment), offset by the displacement of 92 million current jobs (8%), will result in net growth of 78 million jobs (7%).
For organisations with early careers programmes, understanding these shifts is crucial. The pipeline of emerging talent will need different skills, experiences and expectations than previous generations in order to have the capabilities necessary drive organisational success in the coming decades. Here are some key insights into how the changing job landscape will impact early careers programmes, the types of roles that will emerge and how to prepare the next generation of talent.
Jobs That Might Disappear
As technology continues to evolve, several traditional roles are projected to decline significantly:
Postal Workers: The rise of digital communication methods and automated sorting systems are already reducing the reliance on traditional postal services. The World Economic Forum identifies Postal Service Clerks among the fastest-declining roles in the job market.
Print Journalists: The decline of print media and the shift towards digital news consumption has led to fewer opportunities for print journalists, with many news outlets now digital-first or entirely online.
Community Banking: The increase in online banking, mobile banking apps and ATMs has reduced the need for in-person bank tellers. Bank Tellers are among the fastest-declining roles globally.
Travel Agents: Online travel booking platforms and AI-driven travel assistants are making traditional travel agent roles less common.
Taxi Drivers: The rise of ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft, combined with the development of autonomous vehicles, could significantly reduce the demand for traditional taxi drivers.
Telemarketers & Customer Service Reps: AI-driven customer service and sales platforms, along with stricter regulations on telemarketing, are reducing the need for human telemarketers and customer service workers, often a common first job for many young professionals.
Librarians: Digital libraries and online information resources are diminishing the need for traditional librarian roles, though there will still be a need for digital information specialists.
Factory and Assembly Line Workers: Robotics and advanced manufacturing technologies are increasingly handling tasks that once provided steady employment for those entering the workforce without higher education.
Data Entry Clerks: The World Economic Forum lists Data Entry Clerks among the jobs seeing the largest decline due to automation and AI advancements.
Retail Cashiers: The rise of e-commerce and self-service kiosks in retail stores are diminishing these roles, which have historically provided flexible employment for students and recent graduates.
Whilst some of these roles may not be considered ‘career roles’, they are an important step on the work ladder for early careers talent. Before I found my feet and whilst still deciding what I wanted to do, I had a number of temp roles doing data entry, customer service and telemarketing. Declining numbers in these roles that have historically served as steppingstones for early careers talent could have significant impact on early careers employees and employers.
Impact on Early Careers Programmes
The decline in these traditional entry-level roles presents significant challenges for early careers recruitment strategies:
Shrinking Entry Points: Many traditional entry-level positions for graduates and school leavers are disappearing. This means fewer natural entry points into organisations, requiring companies to create more structured early careers pathways.
Skills Gap Widening: As routine tasks become automated, the skills gap between education and employment is growing. Entry-level roles increasingly require more advanced technical skills and digital literacy from day one.
Higher Expectations for Early Talent: With fewer administrative or process-driven roles available, early careers talent is expected to add value more quickly, often needing to demonstrate complex problem-solving and critical thinking skills immediately.
Reimagining Work Experience: Companies must rethink work experience, internships and placement years to provide meaningful exposure to emerging technologies and future-focused skills that automation cannot easily replace.
Increased Competition: As traditional entry points decrease, competition for remaining early careers opportunities intensifies, making employer branding and candidate experience more critical than ever.
To address these challenges, early careers programmes must evolve. Talent acquisition leaders should consider creating rotational experiences that expose emerging talent to a variety of business functions, developing accelerated digital upskilling programmes, and establishing mentorship opportunities that help bridge the experience gap.
Jobs That Will Significantly Change for Early Careers Talent
According to McKinsey Global Institute, at least 30% of work activities that could be automated for about 60% of occupations. Rather than complete displacement, many entry-level and early career roles will undergo significant transformation.
JuniorHealthcare Professionals: The integration of telemedicine, AI diagnostics, and wearable health technology are changing how healthcare is delivered. Early careers talent will need to be comfortable with digital patient management systems and telehealth platforms from day one.
Teachers and Educators: The rise of online education, virtual classrooms, and AI-driven personalised learning experiences are transforming teaching. New educators will need to be proficient in digital tools and platforms, incorporating technology into their teaching methods and focusing on facilitating learning rather than just delivering knowledge.
Manufacturing and Production Workers: Technological advancements in AI, robotics, and automation will drive both job creation and decline, with manufacturing roles evolving to focus more on overseeing and maintaining automated systems. Early careers talent in this sector will need skills in robotics, programming and systems management rather than traditional manufacturing processes.
Financial Graduates: AI and advanced analytics will handle much of the data processing and routine analysis that junior finance professionals typically managed. Early careers talent will need to focus on interpreting data and providing strategic insights rather than data gathering. The World Economic Forum notes that Fintech Engineers are among the fastest-growing jobs in percentage terms, representing a shift in early financial careers.
Supply Chain Coordinators: With the rapid expansion of e-commerce, warehousing jobs have grown 61% in the last decade. At warehouses, depots, and logistics centres throughout the supply chain, there is a growing need for human workers with the skillsets necessary to manage a more complex, interconnected and tech-enabled supply chain.
These changes highlight the increasing importance of digital literacy, adaptability and continuous learning for early careers talent. The traditional learning curve for new graduates is getting steeper, with expectations to contribute meaningfully to technology-driven processes from the beginning of their careers.
Emerging Early Career Opportunities
Much as technologies of the past have done, automation will create new entry-level occupations that do not exist today. Here are some promising examples of future job opportunities for early careers talent:
AI and Machine Learning Specialists: According to the World Economic Forum, AI and Machine Learning Specialists are among the fastest-growing roles. Early careers talent looking to enter these professions need a strong background in computer science, programming, statistics and data analysis. Companies are increasingly creating graduate pathways specifically for these roles.
Cybersecurity Analysts: The World Economic Forum ranks networks and cybersecurity among the top three fastest-growing skills. Entry-level roles in this field are expanding as organisations build security teams to protect expanding digital infrastructure. Early careers talent should focus on network security, ethical hacking, risk management and security compliance.
Sustainability and Environmental Specialists: With 47% of employers expecting climate-change mitigation to transform their business in the next five years, organisations are creating early careers paths in sustainability. Entry-level roles supporting renewable energy engineers and environmental specialists represent growing opportunities for graduates with relevant knowledge.
Data Analysts and Data Scientists: Big Data Specialists are among the fastest-growing jobs in percentage terms. Early careers programmes in this area are expanding rapidly, seeking talent with skills in data mining, statistical analysis, programming and data visualisation.
Remote Work Support Specialists: According to the World Economic Forum, 83% of employers plan to provide more opportunities to work remotely, creating significant demand for professionals who can support distributed workforces. These roles represent new entry points for early careers talent with strong organisational skills and digital communication tools proficiency.
Health and Wellness Coaches: Supporting employee health and well-being is becoming a strategic priority, with 64% of employers identifying it as key for talent attraction. Early careers talent with knowledge in nutrition, fitness, mental health awareness and coaching may find entry-level opportunities across sectors.
Robotics Engineers: With 58% of employers expecting robotics to transform their business by 2030, early careers pathways are emerging for talent with skills in mechanical engineering, electronics, and programming. Graduate schemes specifically focused on automation and robotics are becoming more common.
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) Developers: LinkedIn data shows Game Designers and Game Developers grew by 58% and 40% respectively as the UK games sector hit record size during the pandemic. New entry-level positions for those with skills in 3D modelling, design and user experience are emerging. These roles often don’t require extensive experience, making them accessible to recent graduates.
Sustainable Agriculture Technicians: The focus on climate change adaptation is driving innovation in food production systems, creating entry-level roles in agricultural technology. These positions offer opportunities for graduates interested in agricultural science, hydroponics, and sustainable practices.
Blockchain Developers: Financial institutions and technology companies are developing entry-level pathways for those with knowledge of blockchain technologies. Early understanding of cryptography, programming, and distributed ledger technology can position graduates for these emerging roles.
Drone Operators and Technicians: Industries from construction to energy are creating new positions to support drone operations, data collection and analysis. These roles provide early career opportunities in a growing field without requiring extensive experience.
Genomic Counsellors: The growth in healthcare specialisations will continue to evolve as healthcare becomes more technology driven. Genetics, biology, and ethics will be areas of entry for early careers talent.
For early careers programmes, these emerging roles represent opportunities to create specialised graduate pathways that attract top talent in competitive fields. Talent acquisition leaders should consider developing targeted recruitment campaigns that highlight these future-focused opportunities to differentiate their employer brand.
Essential Skills for Early Careers Success
As occupations evolve alongside increasingly capable machines, early careers talent will need to develop a range of skills that may not be emphasised in traditional education. For talent acquisition leaders, understanding these skills is crucial for designing effective assessment and development programmes:
Digital Literacy: Beyond basic computer skills, early careers talent needs a strong understanding of digital tools, platforms, and concepts. The WEF report identifies AI and big data as the top fastest-growing skills, followed by networks and cybersecurity. Early careers programmes should incorporate digital assessments and training from day one.
Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: With routine tasks automated, analytical thinking remains the most sought-after core skill among employers, with seven out of 10 companies considering it essential. Assessment centres and selection processes should prioritise these capabilities over technical knowledge that can be taught.
Adaptability and Lifelong Learning: The WEF report highlights that workers can expect 39% of their existing skill sets to become outdated by 2030. Early careers talent with demonstrated learning agility and curiosity will be better positioned to evolve with their roles. Graduate programmes should emphasise continuous development rather than fixed skill sets.
Emotional Intelligence: As automation increases, uniquely human skills such as empathy, communication, and teamwork become more valuable. The WEF identifies resilience, flexibility, and leadership as among the most sought-after core skills. Early careers development should focus on these interpersonal capabilities alongside technical training.
Environmental Awareness: Understanding sustainability issues is increasingly important across sectors. Environmental stewardship has entered the list of top 10 fastest-growing skills for the first time, driven by climate-change mitigation trends. Early careers programmes should incorporate sustainability awareness regardless of function.
For talent acquisition leaders, these skill requirements necessitate a shift in assessment approaches. Moving away from traditional competency frameworks toward evaluating learning potential, adaptability, and critical thinking will be essential for identifying successful early careers talent.
STEM Subjects: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics subjects provide the foundation for many future roles. Early careers programmes should consider developing partnerships with universities to influence curriculum design and create clear pathways from STEM degrees into organisations.
Interdisciplinary Approaches: LinkedIn data shows high demand for roles requiring a mix of technical and human skills. Graduate schemes that rotate early careers talent through both technical and commercial functions can develop this valuable blend of capabilities.
Environmental Focus: With sustainability becoming business-critical, early careers programmes should incorporate green skills development regardless of function. This could include sustainability projects, environmental impact assessments, or dedicated learning modules.
Ethics Understanding: As technology raises complex questions, early careers talent needs to understand ethical implications of business decisions. Development programmes should include ethical case studies and discussions, particularly for those working with advanced technologies.
Accelerated Digital Upskilling: Rather than assuming tech and digital skills will develop over time, organisations should front-load technical training in early careers programmes to enable faster productivity and contribution.
For talent acquisition leaders, this means reimagining traditional graduate development approaches. Annual intake models may give way to more frequent, specialised recruitment aligned to emerging skill needs. Development pathways will need to become more personalised, with greater emphasis on continuous learning rather than prescribed programmes.
Preparing Emerging Talent for the Future
The landscape for early careers talent is changing dramatically. Traditional entry-level roles are disappearing or transforming, while entirely new career paths are emerging. For talent acquisition leaders, this presents both challenges and opportunities to reimagine how organisations attract, develop and retain emerging talent.
Success in this evolving environment requires a fundamental shift in approach—moving from standardised graduate programmes toward more agile, personalised development journeys that emphasise continuous learning and adaptability. Organisations that create clear pathways into emerging fields, develop innovative assessment approaches, and build strong educational partnerships will gain significant competitive advantage in the talent market.
For the next generation entering the workforce, including our children, these changes promise exciting opportunities to build careers that may look very different from those that came before—careers that may not even exist yet. Our role as talent acquisition leaders is to help them navigate this uncertainty, providing early careers programmes that prepare both emerging talent and our organisations for a rapidly changing future.
When it comes to advising my kids on their future and the subjects they want to follow, it’s not straightforward. But as my Auntie once told me, you’ll be surprised just how much you will learn from your children. Kids are curious, and they aren’t stuck in historical thinking and norms. Our job is to guide them and encourage them to stay curious as we watch the world change!
