Jessica Collins

Jessica Collins is a strategic employer brand and recruitment marketing leader with more than a decade of experience building data-driven talent attraction strategies for high-growth and enterprise organizations, including PT Solutions, Walmart, and Aspen Dental. She specializes in transforming employer brands into measurable hiring engines through paid media innovation, persona-driven strategy and messaging, and full-funnel optimization. A collaborative storyteller and servant leader, Jessica is passionate about helping organizations scale and convert brand awareness into real hiring impact while improving candidate experience at scale.

Jessica is a Brandon Hall Gold Award winner for Best Recruitment Marketing & Employer Brand Program (2025) and has been recognized multiple times for driving innovative talent brand strategies that increased awareness, improved hiring outcomes, and reduced spend, including Walmart’s Making A Difference Award and Resilient Rockstar honors and PT Solutions’ Talent All-Star Award.

Jessica Collins’s Session(s)

1:10 p.m.–2:00 p.m. PT —

Live Talent Talk: EVP vs. Reality: When Your Brand Promises Don’t Match the Candidate Experience 

Your employer value proposition sounds compelling. Your career site is polished. Your recruiters are aligned. But what happens when the lived candidate experience doesn’t match the brand story you’re telling?

In this candid closing panel, TA and employer branding leaders unpack the growing disconnect between EVP messaging and real-world hiring experiences. From delayed feedback and inconsistent interviews to technology overload and hiring manager misalignment, even strong brands can unintentionally erode trust during the recruiting process.

Panelists will explore:

• Why EVP breakdowns happen (and where they most commonly show up)
• How candidate experience impacts offer acceptance, referrals, and reputation
• The role of recruiters as brand stewards — and where they need better support
• Practical ways to audit, align, and recalibrate your EVP with operational reality
• How to create internal accountability so the promise matches the practice

Expect honest stories, lessons learned, and actionable insights to help ensure your brand isn’t just aspirational — it’s experiential.

Because in today’s transparent talent market, candidates don’t just hear your message. They experience it.