Your company’s career page is like your employer resume. It’s your organization’s opportunity to:

  • Convey your value proposition to talented candidates
  • Explain how your values and mission make you a great place to work
  • Help candidates learn why they might want to invest time applying to your company

Career pages can be an important gateway for attracting high-value candidates. A survey of 180,000 job seekers found 58 percent of candidates ranked the company career page as the most important channel for employer research. That was much higher than sites like Facebook or Twitter.

Your company career page is an important recruiting tool. You should regularly update and evolve it to attract top candidates. Use these career page best practices to guide your company when you design or edit yours.

Empathetic Communication

Candidates want to see the humanity behind your company. When looking for a new job, they want to find companies they can relate to.

According to a 2021 report by Harvard Business Review, 89 percent of professionals worldwide felt their work-life was getting worse. The COVID-19 pandemic upended the world and employer-talent relations.

Empathetic language conveys to candidates you’re a caring company. Some tips to communicate with empathy on your career page include:

  • Use inclusive language, like “we” and “you,” rather than formal third-person language.
  • When you’re hiring during a crisis (like the pandemic), share changes and adjustments you’ve made to the process. Explain how those affect candidates.
  • When you write, put yourself in the candidate’s shoes. Feature information candidates would like to learn about the role. That includes what the work environment is like and the benefits offered. Avoid writing lists of requirements. Instead, create job descriptions that show how someone in that role is successful.

Some of the best career page examples we’ve seen post-pandemic have made empathy the star of the communications. Remember that candidates are humans, not just a set of skills. Then create your page’s content based on that mindset.

Clear Insights into the Applicant & Hiring Process

Maybe you can relate: Time is a valuable asset in the hiring process. The best talent can afford to be more selective. That’s why 49 percent of job seekers working in in-demand fields have turned down an offer due to a bad hiring process experience, according to a 2019 PwC Future of Recruiting survey of 10,000 respondents.

Alleviate this pain point. Weed out candidates who aren’t a fit for your company. Be transparent about your organization’s application and hiring process on your career site. Provide insights into factors like:

  • What kind of response, if any, a job applicant can expect after applying for a job on your site
  • How long the typical time-to-hire takes
  • What to expect from the interview process – for example, virtual interviews, panel-style interviews, etc.
  • Whether your company requires drug testing

The more information your company can provide, the more likely you’ll get applicants who are a fit for your organization and the position they’re applying for.

Another way to engage candidates and increase transparency? Add chatbots to your career page.

Chatbots can answer candidate questions in real-time. According to the 2020 NA Talent Board CandE Benchmark Research Report, the number of candidates who are “extremely likely to refer others” increased by 25 percent when a chatbot answered questions on a career site. Use recruiting technology to your advantage.

Be Inclusive

Today’s candidates want to work for companies that support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). According to a 2019 study by ZipRecruiter, more than 86 percent of job seekers said workplace diversity was important when looking for a job. Millennial and Generation X job seekers, in particular, were more likely to value workplace diversity compared to salary and flexible work options.

To convey inclusivity on your career page, you can:

  • Feature diverse people in images and videos
  • Enable global visitors to access your job site in multiple languages
  • Spotlight your DEI initiatives, such as training programs
  • Feature DEI successes, such as statistics that demonstrate a diverse workforce
  • Remove gender from job descriptions

You can also be inclusive by offering a blind hiring process and promoting that on your career page. Blind hiring involves actions like removing names, schools attended and candidate addresses from resumes.

You can also say on your career page you don’t do things like check a candidate’s social media pages. Some companies even anonymize initial interviews.

Show Why You’re a Great Place to Work

In today’s age of social media and review sites, social proof can be a powerful recruiting source. The 2020 NA Talent Board CandE Benchmark Research Report found the highest-ranking companies for candidate experience share awards received for employee experience 11 percent more often on their career sites. They also make employee testimonials available 11 percent more often. Plus, they post answers to why people want to work at the company 5 percent more often.

You can also show social proof of why you’re a great place to work by pulling in rankings and statistics from employer review sites like Glassdoor and company review sites like Better Business Bureau.

You can also feature your company culture on your career site. Glassdoor’s Mission & Culture Survey 2019 found more than 77 percent of adults across the U.S., UK, France and Germany consider a company’s culture before they apply for a job there. More than half of respondents said culture matters more than salary for job satisfaction.

Consider the following to show off your company culture on your career site.

  • Feature your company’s social media channels
  • Include photos and videos of your staff
  • Provide bios of your leadership team
  • Promote your company’s mission and values
  • Add logos and testimonials from prominent satisfied clients
  • Feature notable achievements and awards your company has won

Your career page is your opportunity to show interested candidates why you’re worth applying to. Remember to use empathy to guide your communications. But don’t be afraid to brag a little when it’s well-deserved.

Improve Your Career Page to Attract Better Talent

Your career page makes an important impression on potential candidates. It’s a reflection of the work your company does, the values that drive it and the people who power it.

Make yours more successful in converting the right candidates. You can:

  • Humanize your company
  • Show your DEI initiatives and culture
  • Use empathetic and inclusive communication
  • Provide social proof about why you’re a great place to work
  • Be accessible and transparent

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Career Page Best Practices to Attract Top Job Candidates

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Your career page is an important recruiting tool. Read these career page examples to see how to improve yours and stand out to job seekers.