Where do Potentialpark’s researchers see the career website going – plus 5 insider tips on how to instantly make your career website more personal and talent friendly.
By Julian Ziesing, October 2017
Career website, quo vadis? What is the future of this oldest and most established digital recruiting and employer branding channel?
Powerful digital players such as LinkedIn, Google and Glassdoor are working hard to replace companies’ career websites and make their own services the one-stop shop. However, we believe the career website has a future, in fact a pole position for employer branding and recruiting, if companies know how to develop it according to candidates’ needs.
As the tables turn and it gets harder to find qualified applicants for many positions, companies realize they have to make a bigger effort to market and sell themselves. Maintaining a career website that attracts and converts talent is a major differentiator in the war for talent.
Every year, Potentialpark surveys over 25,000 students and graduates for their digital behavior, and analyzes thousands of career websites around the world based on the students’ preferences. And over the past years, we’ have been able to answer three crucial questions:
1. Are young candidates using companies’ career websites? – Yes. Around 80% to 95% of students and graduates say they do, depending on the country or region.
No matter if they are approached by recruiters on LinkedIn, referred by a friend, heard about an employer on Facebook, or googled jobs online, sooner or later most candidates pay a visit to the company’s own career website.
2. Do candidates have any expectations towards career websites, other than the access to the open jobs? – Yes. Besides open jobs, they look for answers to a wide range of questions during different stages of their information-gathering, decision-making and application processes.
Their motives are numerous: They often want to check out if the promise that the company has extended to them through their job offers holds true on their website, get a feeling for the corporate culture or prepare for the application or interview process. They may look for an answer to a specific question or a personal contact, or simply want to log back into their candidate profile. A great career website caters to all these needs.
3. How will future career websites be different from today? – Or, in other words: How can they survive against all the social and professional platforms out there? Here is what we think will be crucial: Personalization. A more human and customized experience for candidates.
“To stay relevant, a career website needs to be more than a brochure with a list of jobs. It has to serve as a personal career guide.”
It would be risky to assume that people always know what they are looking for. At career fairs, recruiters often hear the question “Where do I fit in”? Candidates expect career websites to answer that very question just as a recruiter would in real life. They turn to the company’s site to help them make the right choice for their career.
To stay relevant, a career website needs to be more than a brochure with a list of jobs. It has to serve as a personal career guide.
During our last global survey, students and graduates were clearer than ever to express a feeling of “being treated like a number, not a human being”. It’s easy to find jobs, but hard to find the right job. And with today’s applicant tracking systems, all the work is on the applicant’s side.
Candidates ask for guidance, orientation and insights, and they want to be treated with respect. They wonder: How do I find the right job at the right company, and how do I know if the employer invests as much effort into my application as I do?
The thinking behind personalization is that every applicant is unique
Personalization is not a technological challenge
Does this mean you should implement a certain tool or technology on your career website? Should you maybe add a chatbot maybe that answers inquiries day and night, 360° videos for a more realistic look behind the scenes or a matching tool that automatically recommends visitors jobs based on their education and interests?
Yes and no – we have seen that some of these features do add great value for candidates. However, first and foremost, personalization is not a technological challenge. To be able to personalize their career website, companies need to open up and offer more relevant and differentiated content.
This starts with a front page that has a strong message, brings the EVP to live and encourages visitors to spend time with the stories and insights that the website tells. Why should I join, what purpose drives the people who go to work here every day? It goes on with sections for different target groups that help candidates to self-identify with the department, function, project, role or program that suits them best. Whom does the company look for and what is it like to work in this specific area? And last but not least, the job ads need to be composed from a candidate’s point of view, really selling the jobs to them, not just listing requirements in recruiter language.
At every step of the way, companies need to remove obstacles and sources of frustration and ensure guidance and transparency.
The more a career website draws in visitors and the more time they spend with relevant content, the more likely they understand which job to apply to, and the more likely they actually convert to applicants.
The thinking behind personalization is that every applicant is unique, different and deserve to be treated with respect.
5 easy tips that will have an immediate impact on the competitiveness of your own career website |
| 1. Even though it’s only one of the many parts of your corporate website, treat your career website like a home for candidates. Include everything there is to know about you as an employer and a company. Don’t rely on people’s readiness to surf around to other sections of your site, like the ones for customers, journalists or stakeholders. Candidates expect to find everything relevant on the careers section, with content in a language, scope and perspective relevant to their questions and situation.
2. Draw people in from the beginning: Make your career start page so intriguing that fewer people go straight to the job search. Not because the jobs are hidden, but because they become curious about your stories. The more time candidates spend with the other content on your site, the more likely they will apply, and the more likely they will apply to the job that’s right for them. 3. Offer a direct contact for general career inquiries. Even if it seems to cause more work – it will for sure cause you more trouble to lose candidates because they couldn’t reach someone for questions. Once you offer a contact point on your career website, make sure to reply to inquiries within 24-72 hours. Keep testing that it works, no matter if it’s an email, hotline or live chat. It almost goes without saying, however, that in practice we see this mistake all the time. Employers take too long to reply or let their contact channels fall between the chairs. Don’t be one of them! 4. Think your job ads from a candidate’s point of view.That means, avoid recruiter language, endless bullet-points, and cryptic names for departments and functions. You wouldn’t believe how many candidates you’ve lost on this issue alone in the past. 5. Unfold your employer brand, your value proposition and your entire company on your career website to bring all their facets to life. This can for example mean in-depth insights into the different departments, functions or roles you offer, helping people to self-identify with the ones that are right for them. The better a candidate understands who you look for and where they fit in best, why that’s attractive for them and what it will be like, the more likely it will light a spark in them, convincing them to apply and take your offer in the end. |
These tips are only an excerpt of what we see when we analyze the best and worst examples every year. There are a hundred more ways to make a career website talent friendly and personal, giving you a differentiating factor for successful recruiting and employer branding.
Stay tuned for the results of the new Potentialpark Study, to be released from March 2018, and follow us over the next months as we collect and analyze the data from our surveys and web audits. And do get in touch to discuss – we love feedback and an open exchange of thoughts and ideas about what makes candidates tick.
| Written by Julian Ziesing from the Potentialpark Team
October 2017 Julian has been working with Talent Communication for over 15 years as a researcher, speaker and consultant at Potentialpark in Berlin, Germany. He advises employers around the world on how to become talent friendly and competitive on the talent market. |