In previous years, careers sites were a staple of online recruitment. They acted as a hub for a brand’s hiring efforts with pages and pages full of everything a potential candidate needed to know about the employer. If you wanted to attract talent online, you had to have a dedicated careers site. As we’ve moved into the digital era, there are many more touchpoints in which a candidate can interact with a business online.
When we talk about careers sites, previously this meant a typically large-scale site linked to a company’s Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). These sites hosted vast amounts of information as well as providing a place for candidates to apply; however, the candidate experience was often slow and clunky with a lot of information required and clicks. Plus, large sites tend to have slower loading times.
What we need from a careers site is always changing. For today’s candidates, sites need to be fast, render correctly on mobile devices and have the option to apply quickly and easily, which is why a lighter landing page is now preferred. These aspects will help to enhance your digital candidate experience, allowing you to connect with a broader range of candidates and of course, is an excellent reflection on your employer brand.
With so many alternative platforms to host content with lower costs, some could argue that the large-scale careers sites we became used to seeing are now redundant. However, having a dedicated website for your recruitment efforts does help to establish your employer brand, give candidates space to apply directly and can tie together all of your digital attraction activities acting as a landing page for adverts. Could it be that your careers site could be made much simpler in the future? If you showcase the core aspects of your employer brand, current vacancies and provide a space for candidates to apply; could this be enough? Rather than creating an entire hub with all of your content in one place which is linked to your ATS, having a smaller scale careers page which is easy to navigate and faster to load combined with strategic digital attraction could be the solution.
Digital attraction can be used to promote your employer brand and bring relevant new audiences to your website, where they learn more about your opportunities and core values. The two aspects can work together nicely. By creating a smaller-scale careers landing page that acts as a paired down version of a larger scale site, you’ll make a streamlined operation which results in a more strategic and less time-consuming approach to online recruitment.
How can you use a careers landing page effectively in the world of digital attraction?
Telling your story
Careers sites have plenty of advantages; they allow you a single space of the internet to showcase your employer brand, advertise vacancies and promote your company culture. It also provides a place for candidates to apply directly for your open vacancies, creating a better candidate experience. A careers site is a great way to ensure that your employer brand communications remain consistent, and ensure you’re putting out an authentic and accurate representation of your company. You can upload a variety of content to your site, carefully curated to help tell the story of your employer brand, your employees and your journey to becoming a scaling business.
Collate all of your open vacancies
Suppose you have a large business operating in different locations. In that case, a careers site could be useful in keeping all your vacancies together and uniting different elements of your business, strengthening the candidate experience and your overall employer brand. This means that if candidates genuinely wish to work for you, they can see all available vacancies in one trusted place, making applying for suitable positions easier. You can use your careers site to explain the different areas of your business in detail, as well as including real-life stories of people within your organisation to give a real perspective.
Provide a secure place for applications
Your careers site can provide a place for candidates to apply to you directly, rather than going through a job board or asking them to email someone directly. When built correctly, you can implement a simple form which is quick to complete, allowing candidates to upload their CV and enhancing their experience hugely. Say goodbye to the days of redirecting candidates to various sites or having lengthy application forms which can deter candidates and cause them to abandon their application. Instead, have a simple form and an efficient screening process to streamline all applications and improve your company’s reputation in the eyes of candidates.
Get social
Adding links to your social media on your careers site will help potential candidates to understand your personality as an employer. Due to its ephemeral nature, social media posts and stories can give a more accurate picture of your company culture, which is why today’s candidates can relate to it more. It gives candidates a genuine feel for what it’s like working for your company as well as the chance to build up a relationship with your brand; they can comment and engage with your content building their brand loyalty. Plus, you can ask employees to share content and involve them in the promotion of your employer brand. Social media also provides a chance to be creative and to reactively respond to trending topics and conversations, so linking it to your careers landing page offers excellent opportunities.
Reaching new audiences
Using social media and digital attraction to promote your careers site is an excellent option as there are so many different platforms to use. By promoting your employer brand content and vacancies on these platforms and navigating candidates to your careers site means that you can reach a larger, more relevant audience. Social media builds your employer brand presence on many different corners of the internet. Using hashtags means you can reach people who may not have heard of your brand. Plus, if you use social media advertising, each platform has distinct targeting capabilities which can ensure that relevant, engaged people see your content. This even includes passive candidates who may not know they want a new job until they discover your company. Digital attraction strategies can work with your careers site to help bring in new candidates that may not have found your website otherwise.
Give your employer brand authority
A careers site helps establish both your consumer brand and employer brand as well as position you as a viable career option to candidates. Plus, you need somewhere to direct those paid media adverts! It’s a great idea to have a place where applicants can easily apply that looks authentic and aligns with your company values without being added to your brand’s main website like an afterthought. Suppose you offer a lot of products or services. In that case, your careers efforts could get lost if you combine them with your main website and having a particular small-scale site means you can update it easily and regularly as and when jobs become available. All of these aspects mean that your employer brand does not appear to be neglected. Instead, it looks like you prioritise your people and careers efforts. Having a dedicated website to showcase your careers gives your employer brand a level of authority and respectability for candidates.
Talent Works specialises in creating strategic digital attraction campaigns for scaling businesses, helping them to attract the best talent and simultaneously promote their employer brand to relevant audiences. If you’d like help with employer branding and digital attraction, then get in touch with our experts to start a conversation about how we can tailor our services to your specific needs.
