Career Page — What It Is and How to Make It Work?

The company’s career page is like a calling card. In digital sales terms, it is a landing page. But instead of pitching products or services, the company is pitching itself to the potential candidates.

But how to make it right?

This article will look at how career pages impact employer branding and how to make an engaging career page.

What is the career page?

In a nutshell, the careers page is a go-to place for those who want to know what the company offers in terms of employment. A Career Page’s goal is to be engaging enough to convert the job seeker into potential candidates from the get-go.

As seen in LinkedIn Talent Research, only a quarter (25%) of the potential candidates are active in the job search. The rest of the potential candidates need an additional push to consider applying. That’s what a good career page can do.

Along with “ title” and “ about” pages, the career’s page is the “ first contact “ type of a page. Unlike those mentioned above, a career page helps job seekers decide whether they want to apply.

As a section of a company’s website, a career page serves two goals:

• showcase employer branding and employee value proposition;
• present a variety of job openings.

Because of that, a career page needs to present relevant information capable of engaging its target audience. It needs to sell the company, its competitive advantages, and available job openings.

In one way or another, a career page tells a story about the company:

• Vision and mission of the company;
• Company’s values;
• Employee Value Proposition — i.e., list of reasons why employees enjoy working there;
• Relevant information for new applicants. This part includes the application process breakdown, interview stages, time frames, etc.

Why do career pages matter?

According to CareerArc, two-thirds of job seekers look at the company’s career page after finding out about a vacant position. This aspect makes a career page a critical component of the company’s website.

As such, there are several benefits to maintaining a career page. Let’s take a closer look:

• The ability to control the employer’s narrative.
• Career pages generate organic web traffic.
• Well-made career pages contribute to cost-effective recruiting.
• Assistance with pre-screening.

What makes a good career page?

In one way or another, the best careers pages have the following aspects:

• The career page is easy to find on the website;
• The job seeker is presented with relevant information to make an informed decision regarding the application;
• Well-made career page seamlessly transitions from the information section to the application form;

These three aspects combined create a fulfilling candidate experience that:

• perpetually attracts new job seekers;
• engages them to apply;
• ultimately turns them into successful new hires.

How to make a career page that stands out?

Composing a career page is a challenge of perception. You need to write about the company’s employee value proposition for the potential candidate from his point of view. The thing is — it is an unflattering point of view that requires solid facts. Here’s how you can pull it off.

Three fundamental elements make a career page to stand out:

Relevant company information.

1. Information to include vision/mission statements, company culture\values breakdown, benefits of working for the company, list of open positions.
2. Don’t overwhelm job seekers with too much information. If there is more information on a particular subject (for example, hiring process guide) — give the link to a dedicated page and don’t spread out.

Message delivery from the potential job applicant’s point of view.

1. The target audience for the career page is people who are considering applying for a job.
2. Show them what it is like to work in the company as a day-to-day experience.
3. Communicate the company’s values and practical benefits of working for the company (like working on exciting projects, personal development, etc..).

User-friendly layout.

1. Make the text easy to scan. You can do it with headers to mark sections like “mission,” “benefits,” “job openings,” and so on.
2. The goal is to lead the user through critical messages towards the conversion point — a list of open positions or a “contact us” button.

Career page done right — an example

Let’s look at how the OpenAI career page is accomplishing these goals.

• The information delivery is in small chunks — a paragraph for the mission, a list of company’s values, a breakdown of benefits of working for the company-boom boom boom.
• The first images the user can see are the company’s slices of life. It sets the general mood of the page.
• Action buttons punctuate each section of the page. There’s an anchor to the job openings section near the top. Then there is a link for hiring philosophy right after the company’s mission paragraph.
• In addition, there is a last-ditch engagement effort at the very bottom of the page. It says, “Don’t see the right fit? Join our recruiting mailing list to stay in touch with us for future opportunities.” — it is an excellent way to stay in touch with the user even if he doesn’t convert immediately.

In conclusion

The career page is one of those parts of the company’s website where the stakes are too high to mess it up. It is critical to make a career page an effective instrument in attracting new talent and converting them into employees. This article explains how career pages work and how to make it right.

Originally published at https://cna-it.com on September 9, 2020.