If your website is like your digital showroom, your Careers page is like the digital version of your lobby and conference room. We all know in business the importance of making a great first impressions on our customers - so why don't we apply these same principles to potential employees and applicants? Especially when they're so tough to find!
Gone are the days when job hunters are willing to navigate through poorly designed career pages and take huge amounts of time filling out annoying job applications online. It's an applicant's market right now, time to start acting like it. But with these simple tips, your careers page will be converting visitors into applicants in no time, filling those positions with the perfect hires!
First up, a few valuable stats to keep in mind:
The candidate application rate goes up by 34% when a job post includes a video. Video has become a must in the digital world over the last three years, increasing engagement, time spent on a site, brand recognition and more.
83% of applicants say it would greatly improve the experience if the business provides a clear view of the hiring process. In other words, "what are you going to put me through?" Remember all of those times you filled out an application and then nervously waited as days and weeks passed, unclear of how or if the company would reach out to you? Well, applicants still don't love that feeling. Giving an accurate timeline of how the hiring process will go, when they will be contacted, and other relevant information goes a long way towards making them feel secure and confident. It might even be the difference that makes your company seem more appealing than another.
Job ads that include a salary range got 75% more engagement than the job postings that didn't. There is tons of info out there about how salary isn't the most important aspect of choosing a job. And while that's true, that doesn't mean it's unimportant at all. Be transparent and clear about the compensation you're willing to offer. That way, when someone does apply for the job, you know they're willing to accept an offer in that salary range.
A few other great practices to keep in mind on your hiring landing pages:
A recruitment ad should never land someone on your site's home page. If you don't have a specific careers page or section on your website, there's no other way around it: You need one. People aren't willing to just drive out to your business and ask about a job, or even to pick up the phone and call. We're living in a digital world now.
But whatever you do, don't make that careers page a long, boring application with a bunch of fields to fill out. Do you ever get excited about filling out forms? Neither does anyone else. Even if your HR policy requires someone to fill out a lengthy application with work history, etc., there's a time and a place. That's the kind of thing you have someone do before the final job offer but after you've already vetted the applicant and impressed them with how great your company is. They don't work for you yet, leave the back-breaking tasks for when they're on payroll.
Show pictures or video of your staff in work situations, outside-of-work get togethers, and present a "real life" environment. People want authenticity and want to know that the culture of your business is going to be a good fit for them.
Give the "elevator pitch" of your company. Remember the market we're in now. The applicant doesn't have to sell himself to you, at least not yet. It's actually the opposite! Give a brief, attractive sales pitch on what makes your company special and different. Think beyond just listing out paid time off, 401k, etc.
Testimonials from existing staff are gold and a great piece of content to use in those videos we mentioned you need. Testimonials from the people that these applicants would be working side-by-side with are more precious than gold. To an applicant, employees are considered as 3 times more trusted than employers. So while a personal word from the Owner, a Manager, or a Supervisor may be nice, an endorsement from a future coworker is dynamite.
In place of filling out that 18-page application, this first touchpoint calls for a clean, simple Contact Us form. Make it a max of three fields ideally. Name, Phone Number, and Email Address. This won't take much time for the applicant or be a turn-off, making it much more likely that you'll get this person's contact info so you can schedule an interview to dig deeper.
Hiring is a challenge for everyone right now, but applying these simple practices above will make sure that your website isn't one of the roadblocks. Whether it's your landing page or driving qualified applicants to it, know that Conquest Digital is here to help in every aspect of your hiring campaigns.