5 Ways to Make Sure Your Career Site Attracts and Engages Great-Fit People

Let’s face it. Most career sites are a snooze fest. Try this for size: As recently as 2021, the average job-view-to-applicant conversion rate stood at 3%. About 92% of candidates drop off mid-way through online applications due to their length and complexity. It naturally follows that cost per hire and time to fill shoot up, leading to recruitment troubles. But who can blame candidates?

Most career sites lack the panache, precision, and personalization that it takes to attract and retain candidates’ attention. Job seekers are far from impressed – and employer branding takes a hit.

Sadly, many businesses spend a ton of time and money on building unnecessarily over-the-top career sites, only to witness appallingly high bounce rates in return for breaking the bank. It’s time to put the candidate back at the center of the recruitment experience – to build a career site that draws job seekers in and rocks your talent acquisition goals, without spending three quarters of the year and half your budget.

Here are a few ideas to improve your career site so that you can attract and hire great-fit talent.

1. Personalize the experience.

Candidates and employers alike size each other up, working out whether they will – or will not – be a fit. Use your careers page as an opportunity to tell your brand story. Show candidates your personality and values, get to know them (and let them get to know you – it’s a two-way street!), and most importantly, give them reasons to come back.

Showing visitors openings based on their skills or interests, or by displaying ones that are similar to previously reviewed postings. Make the journey easier by allowing them to save jobs. Supplement this with dynamic and social content that matters to them (all the while keeping your brand front and center of the interaction), and you’re off to a great start.

2. Keep it simple.

An effective careers page must embody good information, nifty functionality, and great aesthetics. Aim to build a page that is simple, elegant, and purpose-built to attract the right talent. A well-designed career site should be easily accessible, and showcase a systematic (and user-friendly) application process.

Visitors should be able to easily navigate through open positions, find the right one, and apply in just a few steps. You can build on this base later by adding or removing pages, updating content, pulling in social feeds, etc. This is simple when done using a content management system (CMS).

3. Build fast.

Time is money. An over-the-top, “mega-cost” career site is not a sure fire way to ensure a great experience. Look for a career site solution that can help get you up and running in weeks – rather than months – without sacrificing quality. Remember to add customized candidate search, integrated social media feeds for fresh content, an optimized application form for accelerated conversions, easy content management, automated interview scheduling, and CRM integration.

4. Keep it responsive.

This is important – and we mean it in more ways than one. First, there’s device responsiveness. Make sure that your careers page is accessible and appealing across a range of devices.  Ninety-six percent of Gen Z candidates spend nearly 10.5 hours on their smartphones every day. Career pages that are mobile-friendly, easily readable, have clear text balanced with eye-catching imagery, and display user-friendly forms will enable you to reach a much larger pool of candidates.

Then there’s application responsiveness, or efficiency. Frame application questions that are strictly aimed at qualifying relevant talent, and are quick to complete – about 76% of Gen Zers are likely to consider dropping off if an online application takes longer than 15 minutes.

Next, there’s responsiveness during the interview process – initially connecting, as well as circling back. First, the connect. Half (51%) of Gen Z candidates prefer face-to-face communication with their recruiters during the interview, which is most effectively and efficiently achieved through video interviews. Next, the circling back. Three-quarters (74%) of Gen Zers turn down offers from companies that had delayed response times during the recruiting journey. All it takes is an SMS text! Nearly nine in ten (86%) of Gen Zers, as well as millennials, appreciate text message communication during the recruitment process.

A professionally designed, intelligently branded careers page gives you a critical competitive edge over other employers, because it bridges the gap between you and the talent that you’re looking for. Your careers page is the best place to not only display existing vacancies, but also showcase your brand, values, and mission. This will help attract, engage, and retain active as well as passive candidates who are a perfect match for your roles – and convert them into relevant applicants in your candidate pool.

Get started on creating an amazing, attractive, and engaging careers page – request a demo and see us in action! Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for more insightful tips on how to attract and retain the best talent.