10 Ways To Turn Your Career Page Into Your Most Valuable Recruiting Tool

Building a career page that is effective in informing and converting applicants

For companies hoping to stay competitive in this recruiting market, one thing is certain: Attracting the candidates you need will typically require you to really stand apart from your competitors. If your company is "just one of the same", many of the best candidates aren’t actually going to remember you...let alone jump at the chance to work at your company.
 
In efforts to stand out, these are a few common tactics that most experienced recruiting professionals understand and (at least try to) consistently apply in their recruiting process:
 

1. Having spot-on job descriptions that balance practical information, uniqueness, and inspiration.

2. Consistently projecting a strong, authentic and overall positive employer brand in all candidate-facing materials.

3. Leveraging social media and third-party platforms strategically to amplify recruiting efforts.
 

However, even the most seasoned pros often neglect an integral recruiting tool for attracting candidates: Their company career page.
 

Simply having a career page, though, doesn’t automatically equal more recruiting success. It has to also be effective in informing and converting applicants.
 
If your career page is not converting enough applicants - or even if you’re not quite sure it is - these 10 tips will help you transform your career page into your most valuable recruiting tool:
 

Today's job seekers, especially younger generations of candidates, are driven by what a company stands for and would even opt for a job with lower pay if it meant they could work for a company whose values matched their own and was committed to public good.
 
Address this by featuring your company’s core values prominently at the top of your career page and throughout other sections so that it’s ever-present in every visitor’s experience.
 

Offering unique perks and benefits is one of the best ways to differentiate your company from others, since it’s something that speaks to individual candidates’ needs.
 
Just remember, though, to feature all those perks and benefits prominently on your career page. Things like the option to bring your dog to work, on-site childcare and meditation rooms, can make the difference in landing that A-player.
 

Sharing third-party content shows a job seeker that other outside parties are recommending your company as an employer, which adds so much more credibility to such a recommendation than if they only heard it from you (someone who represents the company).
 
What you can do: On your career page, include a link to an unbiased third-party review site where previous and current employees have left reviews about your company. Another option is to pull quotes from those third-party sites and place them directly on your career page, or feature any awards or accolades your company has received.
 

If you don't have a website that functions on mobile devices, it’s not a matter how if you’re losing candidates to your competitors, it’s a matter of how many.
 
Use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test to see if your career page is mobile-friendly, and if it isn’t, make it a top priority that there’s a solution to that. Either make the necessary tech upgrades to your site, or work with an employer branding company who can create a reliable and easy mobile job search experience for your potential job applicants.
 

The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, so it pays to use text-light and image-filled content on your career page. By using real images and videos to paint a picture of your company - its culture, people and individual roles - your company comes across as authentic and real. And this certainly makes your company more attractive to candidates than if they had to read paragraph after paragraph of text.
 

A person's story is far more memorable than broad statements like "a fun place to work" or "we care about our employees." Choose a few of your A-players who would portray a positive image on screen and could tell your employer brand story well. These stories will carry heavy weight for prospective candidates, as they will have a face with the story.
 

60% of job seekers abandon online applications if they are too complex, which means for every 100 candidates you could've had, you're only getting 40 if your application process is too long or complicated.

Do yourself and your potential candidates a favor by:
 

1. Separating questions into sections so they feel more manageable for applicants.

2. Excluding confusing and vague questions, and also ones where you can live without the answer.

3. Implementing a save feature so applicants can come back to finish at a later time if they need to.
 

Today’s candidates expect diversity in their workplace because it’s a sign that you’re an open-minded, forward-thinking company. To show this on your career page, include team members of different races, genders, ages, and perspectives throughout your images and storytelling. Displaying diversity also shows a wider pool of talent they would indeed fit in well with your organization and find common ground with existing team members.
 

Almost nothing turns job seekers away faster than a boring career page, so take the time to share a bit of what makes your company unique.
 

 
Or get ideas from your employees: How many languages do your team members speak? Do any of them do ballet or possess a black belt? Showing off such interesting quirks just might inspire someone enough to apply if they needed a little nudge.
 

The main reason that most candidates come to your career page at all is because they're deciding whether or not to apply to your company. Use this as an opportunity to set up the first steps of the candidate experience for those who do end up applying.
 
Some ideas: Add an FAQ for them or give a colorful overview of the company’s history. This helps foster a positive relationship with the potential applicants early on so that not only more of them apply, but the pool of applicants you do receive are more informed about your company.

Moritz Kothe is Chief Executive Officer of kununu, and Senior Vice President International for XING AG. Prior to leading kununu’s U.S. expansion, Moritz helped to grow the XING AG business from a 200 million dollar market cap to the 1 billion dollar business it is today. In that role, he led B2C subscriptions and XING’s advertising businesses. Connect Moritz Kothe