You only get one chance to make a good first impression. If you want to hire top talent, that means you need a careers page that showcases your company well. Use these 7 careers page best practices so that your website brings in the qualified applicants your company has been searching for.
What is a careers page?
A careers page is a special webpage, or landing page, advertising available positions in your company. The page should not only describe your current job openings but it should also give potential applicants an idea of what it would be like to work with you.
7 Careers Page Best Practices
Although posting on job boards is a great way to get eyes on job opportunities within your company, the best way to inform prospective candidates is with a great careers page on your website.
Best Practice #1: Keep it Active
Every company needs a careers page, even when they aren’t actively hiring. Imagine never having to post on career sites because you already have a folder full of prospective candidates in your email inbox.
To recruit proactively instead of reactively, create a great company career page on your website that highlights all you offer employees. Even if you don’t have available positions at the moment, explain how candidates interested in working with your company can apply or send in their resume. Explain in your plan (see best practice #6) that you aren’t actively hiring but will keep them in mind for future positions.
This proactively brings qualified applicants to you. When an opening does appear, you already have potential employees to contact, saving you time and money.
Best Practice #2: Stay on Brand
Your branding should stay consistent throughout the entire company website, including your careers page. However, branding doesn’t just refer to the colors, fonts and layouts you use on your website. Branding is also about how you talk with your prospective customer and potential employees. Clearly portraying the employer brand in the careers page will help you attract employees that fit well with your company.
These two career page examples show how to reflect the company brand on a careers page:
Stripe A Lot
This asphalt company loves to have fun. (Their lead generator is titled “Ways a Cheap Ass-Phalt Company Will Disappoint You”.) Their careers page effectively reflects that aspect of their company culture. They want to attract prospective candidates who will fit in well with their current employees and have the same fun-loving attitude toward their work.
Pine and Company CPAs
Pine and Company CPAs is a very family-oriented, customer-service-focused organization. Their careers page highlights those same values. They want to attract candidates who share those priorities and will be able to uphold them with ease.
Best Practice #3: Describe What You Offer Employees
As you can see with the two career page examples above, your careers page isn’t just a list of available positions.
Although it is important to include the actual job openings on your careers page, that shouldn’t be the bulk of the content. Instead, focus on what potential employees really want. Most job seekers are looking for more than just a paycheck.
A great careers page always answers these three questions:
- How can working with your company make a prospective employee’s life better?
- What kind of person will thrive in your company?
- Why should they choose to work with you instead of your competitors?/ What do you offer that sets you apart from other companies?
Take the time to learn exactly what your ideal job candidate is looking for in a position and then highlight how you meet those needs on your careers page.
Job seekers often want to find:
- Healthy work-life balance
- Positive company culture
- Company values that align with their own core values
- Meaningful work
- Opportunity for advancement
- Growth and professional development
- Attractive employee benefits packages
You likely already meet many of those needs and wants. Intentionally highlight how you do that on your careers page.
Best Practice #4: Stay Focused
The entire careers page should be dedicated to what potential candidates are interested in learning about your company, nothing more. This is not the place to talk about the company’s history, the story of your founder or the current owner’s favorite hobbies. Stay focused on what potential candidates really want to know: How will this job make their lives better?
Best Practice #5: Include Employee Testimonials
The best career pages use the same techniques used to sell a product or service to sell a prospective candidate a job. One of the most powerful marketing tools is the power of social proof.
By including testimonials from employees, you validate the promises you have made to a job candidate through your careers page. A candidate can see firsthand how working with your company has already changed someone else’s life. This makes it easier for them to picture themselves in the same situation, experiencing a similar transformation.
At the very least you want to include a few quotes from current employees highlighting how working with you has made their lives better. If you really want to add a personal touch, include multiple videos of employees sharing their testimonials.
Best Practice #6: Describe the Application Process
When applying for a new job, people want to know what to expect. On your careers page, describe what your hiring process entails.
Clearly outline how long it will take for applicants to hear from you, how many interviews are included in your recruitment process and how quickly you are hoping to fill open positions.
Setting clear expectations will help you attract candidates that fit your timeline.
Best Practice #7: Make it Look Good
Most job postings are long, boring and incredibly difficult to read (without zoning out or falling asleep). Your careers page should be anything but boring.
Use images, videos, compelling design and a clear layout to entice job seekers to continue scrolling down your career page. The best company career pages aren’t quickly thrown together afterthoughts. They are just as intentional as the rest of the company website.
Without great employees, you can’t offer an outstanding product or service. Bring in qualified applicants with a careers page that reflects company culture, shows how working for your company can make an employee’s life better, and details exactly what they can expect during the application process.
If you are too overwhelmed and understaffed to create a good careers page, contact Guide MKTG today. We will help you create a strong careers page and a recruitment plan so you can fill your open positions and keep growing your business.
