6 Steps to Turn Your Job Listings Page into a Careers Page
What if you were interested in employment opportunities at a company but when you went to their career page, all you found was a list of open job positions? Job candidates have more questions than what can be answered in a job description. They want to know -- What’s it like to work here? Will I fit in? Who are these people? Why should I work here?
Your careers page is an opportunity to connect with people, communicate your credibility as a good employer, and answer the questions that will help them to decide whether you’re a good fit for them – or not. (You don’t want everybody to apply, do you?)
Engage Candidates on Your Careers Page
If all you have today is a list of jobs on your website, take these steps to improve your careers page and make it more effective at educating and engaging job candidates.
1. Fix Anything That’s Broken
This sounds like a no-brainer but if your website hasn’t been getting much attention, there could be links that are broken or the site may be glitchy – both of which are reasons for visitors to bounce away.
Check to see if your web master is keeping the software up to date. If you’re embedding your job listings from a third-party service, are they displaying correctly? Don’t forget to look at your site on a smartphone and see if it’s mobile optimized.
2. Introduce Yourself
Even if you haven’t done the work to develop an employer brand message yet, you can still give careers page visitors an idea of what your company is like with some creative text that introduces your company.
You could talk about the problems that your products and services solve for your customers. Mention some of the attributes that make a person a good fit. Talk about some of the ways that employee contributions are appreciated.
3. Personalize Your Company
Stock photos on your website are going to do nothing to help job candidates get to know you. In fact, they can be a big turnoff. Real photos not only put faces to your company name, but they also transmit messages about your culture.
Include photos of the work environment, scenes of work and play, and community involvement. Get good at capturing photos and videos of everyday life at work and you’ll also have great content for your social media channels. (Make sure you have employee permission, of course!)
Related: Read about Guidelines for Using Employee Photos for Marketing
4. Build Credibility with Employee Testimonials
Your employees have three times the credibility that you do when talking about the kind of employer you are. (LinkedIn) You’re going to have to ask for employee testimonials and the way that you ask will be a factor in the quality of the quote.
Instead of sending out a survey, use short interviews to find out what your employees really value. Pull out quotes from the interviews and use them with the employee’s photo on your careers page. As you interview employees, you’ll also be building a library of content that you can use in social media posts and blog content.
5. Simplify Step #1 in Your Application Process
If the first step in your application process requires a big time investment for candidates, you’re most likely losing people along the way and they won’t be inclined to give you a second shot. (Talentegy pdf)
Get rid of the idea that a long application is a good way to weed out people who don’t exhibit dedication or stick-to-it-ness. While you may get less applications, you could be letting the best candidates slip away because they value their time more than you do. Try a short form application for step # and find other more effective methods to qualify applicants.
6. Invite Engagement
A careers page that answers questions and shows what it’s really like to work at your company is naturally going to be more engaging, but you should have a next step for people to take wherever they are in their candidate journey.
Everyone isn’t going to be ready to apply, or you might not have a position for them at the moment, so invite them to follow you on social media. Better yet, offer to keep in touch with monthly eNews.
BONUS – Spotlight Special Programs
Do you have internships, apprenticeships or programs that speak to veterans, or other types of potential candidates? Spotlight these programs on your careers page.
You should also mention if you have special relationships with local school districts, technical colleges and universities. Keep consistent communications going with your contacts there too.
Get Better Results from Recruiting
Technology has changed human behavior and people use the same behaviors to research job opportunities that they use as consumers. Recruitment marketing helps you to create touchpoints that allow job candidates to answer their questions and get to know you as an employer. The result is reduced hiring costs, better-fit hires, and faster time to hire. (LinkedIn)
The experience that job candidates have on your careers page goes hand in hand with presenting them with the right message. Learn how to talk to employees and turn what they say into compelling recruiting messages when you take my course - Better Message. Better Talent Pool. Subscribe to get notified when the course is available for enrollment.
