The war for talent is being fought online: millennials in particular, and the younger Generation Z now entering the job market, have moved their job search entirely to the internet. Sooner or later, prospective applicants land on the career page of the company they are interested in. What they find there often determines whether they ultimately apply or continue their search.
How authentically the company presents itself, how appealing the user experience is during the visit and application process, and how open the company is to dialogue are among the most important criteria for a successful career page. The HR benchmark study by consulting firm Net Federation examined exactly these aspects.
The verdict: German corporations have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to career pages – and therefore a great deal of untapped potential in digital recruiting.
How Companies Can Get the Most Out of Their Career Page
To take employer branding to the next level and win over the right candidates, companies should keep these three points in mind when designing their career page:
1. Authenticity Through Transparency
In trying to present themselves as attractively as possible and convey all supposedly important information, many companies fall back on a string of buzzwords on their career page. “We’re looking for team players with a hands-on mentality,” “flexible working hours guaranteed” or “plenty of benefits await you” may sound nice at first – but what do they actually mean? This cliché overload tells candidates very little, and the company misses its chance to stand out from other employers.
What benefits do employees receive? How flexible are flexible working hours really? And what kind of team can applicants expect? These topics are often only discussed in the job interview. But that is not truly efficient – neither for the applicant nor for the recruiter.
Many applicants make their efforts dependent on whether flextime or part-time models are an option, for example. If the company does not inform them sufficiently in advance, suitable candidates drop out before a personal interview even takes place.
2. User Experience and Technical Requirements
In addition to an authentic look inside the company, applicants expect an application process that is as straightforward as possible. This includes a user-friendly website structure on the one hand and the ability to submit an application as quickly as possible on the other.
For a positive user experience, the career page must first and foremost be easy to find. A careers button should already be visible in the homepage navigation to avoid a clicking odyssey. SEO-friendliness and linking the career page to all social media accounts are also an absolute must.
Once applicants reach the career page, one of the easiest ways to accommodate them is the option to upload a resume as a file. Often, however, applicants have to laboriously transfer their career history into online forms that ultimately reveal little more than a classic resume. Even more applicant-friendly and time-saving is one-click application, which allows candidates to import their profile from career networks such as Xing or LinkedIn.
3. Direct Contacts for Digital Dialogue
Interaction options for applicants are just as important. The more personally companies engage with candidates on their own platform, the more welcome candidates feel. In reality, far from all employers name a contact person in their job ads. This makes it extremely difficult for candidates to get answers to questions they may have before applying.
Yet there are many ways to engage in direct dialogue with applicants. The simplest is to provide a contact person’s email address. Even more user-friendly, however, would be a chat function integrated into the website or the option to start a conversation via a direct messenger such as WhatsApp or Facebook.
Best Practice: 5 Examples of Great Career Pages
- Tech giant Palantir is especially transparent about its interview process. Applicants can also join the Palantir Talent Community to receive tailored job offers.
- Fresenius is one of the few companies that runs its own career blog. Here, candidates can get a feel for everyday work and get to know future colleagues.
- Chatbots are still rare in HR communication. At Bayer, an intelligent digital assistant named Bobby is already in use, answering almost any question about a career at Bayer.
- Software provider HubSpot places particular emphasis on showcasing its company culture on its career page. In a 128-slide deck, HubSpot presents its Culture Code, which gives potential applicants a comprehensive insight into the company’s values.
- Audit firm Deloitte has not only put together a highly informative career page but also offers visitors a 360-degree look at all its locations thanks to virtual reality videos.