What requirements must a modern careers site meet in 2024? And should you connect it to your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or not? With these 8 tips you are certainly on the right track.
Hiring the right people is harder than ever these days. A solid careers site is crucial, but what does that actually involve? The experts at ‘Creative Agency Collective,’ also known as HERD, have put together 8 straightforward tips to help you understand what makes a careers site effective.
#1. Start a separate site
Creating a separate careers site? It’s the key to attracting more applicants and swiftly filling open positions with the ideal candidate. While it might seem like a significant step—maintaining two websites—having a dedicated careers site is consistently more advantageous than a mere page on the main corporate website
#2. Formulate a persona
A good strategy is key. It’s highly important to clearly define in advance who your exact target audience is for the various job openings on the website. Each target audience is unique and requires distinct methods to capture their enthusiasm, provide information, and persuade them. The way they respond and apply can also vary significantly among different target groups.
Each target audience is unique and requires distinct methods to capture their enthusiasm
Understanding your target group can be challenging. Consider looking at the five most common positions within your company, invite the employees holding these roles, and engage in a conversation with them. Ask them to describe their roles in detail, including the enjoyable, interesting, or challenging aspects, and what they consider important in their positions. Document this information, create a persona, and then analyze the employee journey through a journey session.
#3. Enable job applications through whatsApp
Keeping the application and response process as simple as possible is crucial. In this regard, providing the option to apply via WhatsApp is a practical solution. It’s convenient, quick, and lowers the barrier for responses, ultimately increasing the likelihood of getting more reactions.
#4. Ensure a flawless procedure
Facilitate a straightforward application process for candidates. Providing the right amount of information in your job listings is important. Too much information can be overwhelming, while too little may create inaccurate expectations and attract undesired applicants. Additionally, clarify your expectations from the applicant. Do you require a traditional CV via email, or is an application with a brief explanation or an introductory video sufficient? Make the process clear and easy for potential candidates.
Guide candidates through the work environment, illustrating what they can anticipate upon responding to the vacancy
Guide candidates through the work environment, illustrating what they can anticipate upon responding to the vacancy. Consider creating an infographic that visually outlines each step in the process after expressing interest. This offers transparency and reduces the hesitation to respond.
Furthermore, break down any forms into multiple steps to make it feel less burdensome for the candidate. A multi-step process is generally less discouraging than a single lengthy form. It not only seems less daunting but also allows for quicker identification of errors, such as missing digits in a telephone number. This approach enhances clarity and user-friendliness. Additionally, leverage a resume parser. When a candidate uploads a CV, much of the information can be automatically filled in, requiring the candidate to only input any missing details manually. This not only saves time but also minimizes inconvenience for the candidate
#5. More than just vacancies
A good career site naturally contains more than just vacancies. In fact, all the extra information can actually make candidates more excited. In fact, additional information can significantly boost candidate enthusiasm. Never underestimate the impact of content. Thoughtfully choose the information you wish to share, and include other relevant or useful content for potential candidates. Organize it with manageable deadlines and milestones, such as completing specific pages within a week.
Consider adding the following:
- An overview of the corporate culture
- Details about employment conditions
- Insights into career options, educational opportunities, and workshops
- Visuals such as photos and videos showcasing the workplace
- Introductions through quotes from future colleagues
- Relevant blogs, videos, podcasts, and upcoming events
- Links to social media channelsIf candidates face multiple job choices, provide a decision-making tool on the careers site. This enables candidates to quickly identify the position that aligns best with their preferences. Alternatively, consider implementing a profile test—an assessment to help individuals discover the type of position or job that suits them personally.
#6. Think of smart animations
Did you know that animations or moving things on a website can help direct candidates? If you make important buttons or links move a bit, it catches the candidate’s attention and guides them to the next step. For example, on a job page, make the ‘apply now’ button stand out by making it pulse a little.
Think about adding a button that lets candidates email, message, or save the job for later.
Also, think about adding a button that let candidates email, message, or save the job for later. Give candidates choices by putting another button next to the pulsating one, saying ‘get to know the team better first.’ This way, you guide the candidate to see all the important information. Help candidates save the job by putting a button that lets them email, message, or save the job on their phone. This enables retargeting for potential campaigns if necessary.
#7. Connect your ATS
ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System, a special software helping companies manage their hiring process and interactions with potential candidates efficiently. It’s like a behind-the-scenes tool, acting as a CRM and central hub for all candidate data. Linking your careers site to your ATS has big advantages—it reduces the need for repetitive tasks (no more manual data entry), and it lets marketing and HR work from their own systems, while recruiters can directly post their job openings online from the ATS.
By linking your career site to your ATS you avoid a lot of duplication of work.
Make sure you don’t get both your ATS and careers site from the same supplier. This way, you won’t have to shut down your site if you decide to switch ATS providers. Specialists also have their own strengths, so it’s better to let the IT capabilities of both parties come together through a link. This keeps you independent and gives you the freedom to design your site the way you want. When choosing the right ATS, consider things like what information should be stored when a candidate applies, what additional information you need, and which system (ATS or CMS) handles automatic email sending.
If you want to explore further details about the top ATS systems favoured by job seekers, check out our comprehensive article: Teamtailor: The best ATS in the world, followed by Greenhouse and Lever
#8. More than just the site
As a final tip, remember that successful recruitment goes beyond having a good careers site. Crafting an overall campaign is vital for boosting your visibility and recognition. Consider the type of campaign you want to run alongside your website or job openings, and how you plan to engage with candidates. Will it be an online or offline campaign, or a combination of both? How will the campaign be visible, and what message do you want to convey? Think about bus shelters, a Facebook campaign, or even radio spots. It’s crucial that the target audience is well-defined, and candidates immediately recognize the company involved.
Without clarity within the company about the recruitment process, everything can still crumble.
Additionally, consider how you handle applicants internally. This may seem obvious, but it’s incredibly important. Regardless of how much thought goes into the job posting, the information on the careers site, and the overall campaign, without clarity within the company about the recruitment process, everything can still crumble. Recruitment has a profound impact on all facets of the organization and necessitates collaboration among various departments. Ensure that everyone is informed and equipped to fulfill their respective roles.
Read more:
- AI Unleashed: Mastering the future of recruitment
- Tech hiring rate and pay drops by 40% in Europe
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