Purpose Talent management is a twenty-first-century concern. Attracting talented individuals to organizations is an important source for firm competitive advantage. Building on signaling theory, this paper proposes that corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be an important tool for talent recruitment. Design/methodology/approach Across two studies, this paper found support for this hypothesized relationship. In Study 1, a job advertisement was manipulated to include information about CSR and tested it in two groups of 120 master’s degree students who would be in the job market within the year. It was found that CSR was an important factor that increased organizational attractiveness. In Study 2, with 532 external talented stakeholders of 16 organizations, our findings were replicated and advanced by testing whether perceptions of CSR practices (internal and external) influenced perceptions of organizational attractiveness and if this relationship was mediated by organizational reputation. Findings This study found that perceptions of internal CSR practices were directly related to both organizational attractiveness and firm reputation. However, perceptions of external CSR practices were related only to organizational attractiveness through organizational reputation. Research limitations/implications The article’s one of the main limitations has to do with generalizability of the results and the potential common method variance bias. Practical implications The findings demonstrate that CSR can play an effective role in attracting potential employees, through enhancement of organizational reputation and organizational attractiveness. If organizations are willing to implement practices that protect and develop their employees, along with practices that improve the quality of the natural environment and the well-being of the society, they can become an employer-of-choice. Originality/value This study expands on previous studies by including an experimental design, including two types of CSR practices and a mediating variable in this field study.