If your website is like your digital showroom, your Careers Page is like the digital version of your lobby and conference room. We all know in business the importance of making a great first impression on our customers – so why don’t we apply these same principles to potential employees and applicants? Especially when they’re so tough to find!
Gone are the days when job hunters were willing to navigate through poorly designed career pages and take a long time to fill out annoying job applications online. It’s an applicant’s market right now; time to start acting like it. But with these simple tips, your Careers Page will convert visitors into applicants in no time, filling those positions with the perfect hires!
First up, a few valuable stats to remember:
- The candidate application rate increases by 34% when a job post includes a video. Over the last three years, video has become a must in the digital world, increasing engagement, time spent on a site, brand recognition, and more.
- 83% of applicants say it would significantly improve the experience if the business provided a clear view of the hiring process. In other words, “what are you going to put me through?” Remember when you filled out an application and then nervously waited as days and weeks passed, unclear how or if the company would reach out to you? Well, applicants still don’t love that feeling. You give an accurate timeline of how the hiring process will go when they are contacted, and other relevant information goes a long way toward making them feel secure and confident. It is the difference that makes your company seem more appealing than another.
- Job ads with a salary range got 75% more engagement than the job postings that didn’t. There is tons of information about how salary is only one of the crucial aspects of choosing a job. And while that’s true, that doesn’t mean it’s unimportant. Be transparent and clear about the compensation you’re willing to offer. That way, when someone does apply for the job, you know they’re ready to accept an offer in that salary range.
Here are a few other excellent practices to keep in mind on your hiring landing pages:
- A recruitment ad should never land someone on your site’s home page. If you don’t have a specific Careers Page or section on your website, there’s no other way around it: You need one. People aren’t willing to drive out to your business and ask about a job or even pick up the phone and call. We’re living in a digital world now.
- But whatever you do, don’t make that Careers Page a lengthy, tedious application with many fields to fill out. Do you ever get excited about filling out forms? Neither does anyone else. Even if your HR policy requires someone to fill out a lengthy application with work history, etc., there’s a time and a place. That’s what you have someone do before the final job offer, but after you’ve already vetted the applicant and impressed them with how great your company is. They still need to work for you and leave the back-breaking tasks for when they’re on the payroll.
- Show pictures or videos of your staff in work situations and outside-of-work get-togethers and present a “real life” environment. People want authenticity and want to know that your business’s culture will be a good fit for them.
- Give the “elevator pitch” of your company. Remember the market we’re in now. The applicant doesn’t have to sell himself to you, at least not yet. It’s the opposite! Give a brief, attractive sales pitch on what makes your company unique and different. Think beyond just listing out paid time off, 401k, etc.
- Testimonials from existing staff are gold and great content to use in those videos we mentioned you need. Testimonials from the people with whom these applicants would be working side-by-side are more precious than gold. To an applicant, employees are considered three times more trusted than employers. So while a personal word from the Owner, a Manager, or a Supervisor may be nice, an endorsement from a future coworker is dynamite.
- In place of filling out that 18-page application, this first touchpoint calls for a clean, simple Contact Us form. Make it a max of three fields, ideally. Name, Phone Number, and Email Address. This will take little time for the applicant or be a turn-off, making it much more likely that you’ll get this person’s contact info to schedule an interview to dig deeper.
Hiring is a challenge for everyone right now but applying these simple practices above will ensure that your website isn’t one of the roadblocks.
