Smaller companies win by competing on fit, authenticity, and credible signals rather than on reach or salary alone. Because candidates weigh five dimensions of attractiveness — interest, social, economic, development, and application value (Berthon et al., 2005) — an SME can lead with meaningful work, culture, and growth, where it is often genuinely stronger than a large corporation. For lesser-known employers, a methodologically sound employer signal (for example a seal based on an anonymous full-workforce survey) can add credibility precisely because it is costly to fake — a point supported by both signalling theory and Scharfenberg’s employer-seal research. Honesty and specificity, not a bigger budget, are the levers.