03 Jul The Importance of a Unique Career Site
The Importance of a Unique Career Site
We are in changing times, and we all have to adapt our attraction strategies to attract and to retain quality staff. One of the foremost aspects proven to enhance candidate attraction to a business along with employer branding, and diversity in business, starts at the very beginning with the career website. This has an immediate impact to whether a quality applicant will take the next step and apply to the company. The company career site is the start of the life cycle for promoting the employer to the employee, which should lead to a successful on boarding process.
The importance of a successful career site cannot be underestimated. It is one of the first opportunities for the employer to promote their company culture and to showcase their Employer Value Proposition (EVP). Along with attracting more high- quality applications, it also saves time for hiring managers and it improves the prospective candidate’s journey with the business.
What are the benefits of a dedicated career site?
The benefits for an organisation are massive; a unique career site to the business is a valuable tool and promotes business and brand. The site can highlight the organisations mission statement and core values along with installing the career and development opportunities within the business.
‘71% of candidates have proactively looked for jobs directly on the websites of companies they’d like to work for’ – Employee Expectations Survey.
‘80% of candidates want as much information about the role as possible’ – Employee Expectations Survey. Applicants want a one-stop shop; it is proven that the success rate for a quality applicant to apply if they can view the full organisation site and the career site together is higher.
More often than not a dedicated career site will add applicants directly to the business applicant tracking system (ATS); this is an ultimate time saver for hiring managers and the human resources team. Having this option will ensure that applicants can be tracked throughout the process and the business can manage the applicants experience. The site should allow the business to track how many people are viewing the jobs; successful applications verse dropout rates etc., it will help the business understand if applicants are becoming disengaged along the process.
The importance of Search Engine optimisation (SEO) is paramount for applicant attraction to a unique career site. SEO takes time to develop but it ensures that the career site which links to the organisation main site is at the top of search engine lists.
‘52% of candidates use Google to search directly for jobs’ – Employee Expectations Survey
What should a successful site look like?
Content is paramount, full job vacancies details should be clear and displayed well. An option should also be there for an applicant to apply even if their skills do not match what the organisation is currently recruiting for at that time, this will give the business the opportunity to expand their talent pool.
Promoting the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is essential. ‘90% of candidates would like to know the main benefits of working for an employer before they apply’- Employee Expectations Survey – Linked In.
Advertising your organisation Progression Pathways and training schemes will enhance applications. Promoting the organisations culture and values needs to be visible. This can be achieved by engaging video content, meet the team content and employee testimonials. Written content will let applicants know about the recruitment and interview process. This manages expectations and improves engagement with the company brand. However, applicants want to learn more about the business than just the company information; they are keen to know about social and charitable events and the type of people who are currently employed.
There are some excellent career site- design organisations in the market that will develop and design unique career sites for organisations. The key thing to ensure is that your business has identified the main objectives and requirements they want to deliver, and how this will reflect on their site map. Navigation on the site needs to be kept simple, making sure that applicants can easily apply from their mobile phones, over 90% of job seekers use their mobiles to look for jobs.
In summary, the key to enhancing the applicant attraction rate on a career site
- Review what information needs to visible and the flow of information to the applicant
- Clearly display company values and branding
- Optimise your employee value process
- Ensure that the data from application can be captured and directed to your ATS
- Perfect a careers page for social campaigns to enhance applicant attraction
- Provide as much information to successfully promote the opportunity within the business