Using your careers page as a strategic recruiting tool

The careers section of your corporate website should be a hub around which the rest of our online recruiting efforts are centered. A good careers section will provide several important services to job seekers and can save your company time and money.

Here are some suggestions for helping to make sure your corporate careers page is being used as an effective recruiting tool:

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1. Use your careers page to reinforce your employment brand

There are a number of things that can be done to ensure that your careers site is properly marketed. The employment section of your website should communicate the advantages of working for your company and provide information that helps job seekers to understand what makes your firm a special place to work. Sites that provide a clear employment brand will help provide a screening tool because they will "speak to" applicants that share the values of your firm.

A properly marketed site requires extensive research aimed at understanding your target population of job seekers. Research should answer questions about this group such as where are the located?, what do they respond to?, why would they want to work for you? What is their image if your company? The information gathered from this research will be important for developing the themes, creative images, content and functionality of your site. It is important to conduct extensive research with end users throughout the process of building your site. Remember, the only people who can tell you how users will respond to a site are the users themselves!

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2. Provide content that matters to job seekers

Careers sites should have basic content that will allow the job seeker to accomplish their primary mission of learning about your firm and what it is like to work there It is more important to provide this basic information in a clear concise manner then it is to try and dazzle job seekers with flashy animation, movies and music.

Site content should be based on information identified as important to the members of your target audience by your research effort. Important content includes things such as benefits, cutting edge products, testimonial and bios from employees, your company’s locations, and the clear communication of your firm’s values and the benefits associated with working at your company. The end goal of all this is to help job seekers understand the unique advantages of employment at your firm and help ensure that applicants who respond best to these advantages will apply for jobs with your company.

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3. Make your site attractive and easy to use

A site that is difficult to understand and navigate will prevent users from achieving their goals. Frustrated users often leave a site and do not come back. User experience becomes associated with perceptions of a firm’s competence. A poor user experience can erode your company’s image, while a well done site sends a clear message to users that your firm takes pride in doing things correctly. It is worthwhile to conduct research on your site before it is launched in order to be sure that it is easy to use and that its messages are clear to the user.

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4. Make it easy for users to find and apply for jobs:

The success of your corporate job site is all about the functionality it offers to job seekers using the site to search and apply for jobs.

In today’s market the ability to provide an interface that will allow for extensive searches of your database of available jobs is critical. If the process of searching for a job becomes difficult for the user, they will go to another company’s site where the process is easier for them to complete.

Your site needs an interface that goes beyond having interested parties email you a resume. A good site will provide fields to collect information that can be stored in a database and used to begin screening applicants.

Good job sites also offer some value proposition to job seekers so that they will have a reason to provide contact information to the site’s database. This includes the ability for visitors to the site to create stored profiles of ideal jobs and to receive emails when jobs meeting the parameters specified in the profile become available. This functionality will allow your site to attract passive job seekers.

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5. Link your site to a database, backend or ATS

If you plan to receive lots of resumes, it is critical to have the front end of your employment site supported by a back end database. These systems provide recruiters who will be using the system a way to do things like post jobs, search store and organize resumes, and screen applications. These systems allow users the organization and efficiency needed to greatly reduce time to hire and to make sure that good applicants don’t fall through the cracks. Without the support of these systems, the front end of a busy employment website will be of little value.

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6. Develop a traffic driving strategy to promote awareness of the site

The greatest website in the world will not do any good if no one visits it. Once the site is in up and running you need to promote it. Promotion starts with the development of a custom URL and the placement of this URL in all of your recruitment advertising. Compelling advertisement that gives persons a reason to want to go to your site is important. You can also promote your site with non traditional forms of advertising such as hand outs and collateral, special online advertising campaigns and sponsorships of online and offline events. Your careers site should be the hub of a larger online recruiting strategy and should be linked to other online initiatives such as online ERPs, online open houses, and strategically placed sponsorships and advertisements.

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7. Collect metrics

In order to establish the effectiveness of your site, it is important to collect as much data as possible and keep detailed records. Information such as: # of visitors, where these visitors found out about your site, how many of them were willing to provide their contact info and how many persons stored profiles can be an important way to keep tabs on the pulse of your site. Metrics like # of clicks you got from an ads are also useful for evaluating online advertising and promotions. If you are doing screening, figure out what sources are bringing you your best candidates. Use this type of information to refine your strategy and make sure you are investing in your online recruiting activities as efficiently as possible.