The company site is often the first impression for candidates. Aside from job listings and ads, this is the first place that candidates will get a glimpse of a company’s culture. Naturally, candidates will head straight for thecareers page, and quite often they’re left underwhelmed by the lack of information and overwhelmed with the inefficient and unwelcoming job descriptions and applications process.

It’s common sense that the career page is a window for candidates, so why are so many companies’ windows cracked, dingy and painted shut? The careers page is an often overlooked and underestimated tool in recruiting. When it isn’t overlooked, it seems there are some misguided attempts at improving it.

Adding content, jazzing it up and providing an easy to use application system is where a lot of people start. The career page is ready to be seen and used, but where are all the applicants?

First, consider if your content is relevant and interesting. Obviously the career page and company blog is going to state and restate why this is a great company. That does little for the candidate. Generic, boring praise does little in the way of fostering a healthy employer brand.Target's career site has some great personal stories from real employees. If companies want people to read their content, they need to: 

• Provide real employee accounts in real voices
• Use eye-catching, compelling titles
• Get on a personal level when it comes to values and culture
• Provide actionable advice as well as general information
• Have opinions!
• Convey company culture

Now that the relevant and interesting content is there, how will anyone know about it?Promoting the site and content in a fun and engaging way is vital to the career page’s success. Links to all of the company’s social media sites should be easy to find and clear to navigate. Quick and obvious social media links are the best way to get employees and candidates to share that information. These links or icons should be on every post. Remember that the site visitors don’t run the company social media. There should be someone in charge of community engagement, and this should reach beyond the staples like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. ePrize recently hired someone via Instagram and made quite the splash doing it.

Don’t forget a clear and inviting call-to-action for each position or piece of content. This is where companies often miss their mark. The whole point is to generate leads and capture candidate information. This doesn’t only mean an “Apply Here” button. You can offer white papers, webinars, infographics or products demos with the request of candidate and visitor information.

The site should be built so that a 4-year old could navigate it. Easy navigation and flow is the key to getting people to land and stay on your career page. Often, the career page is hidden somewhere in tiny print, at the bottom, in the site map. That’s a horrible place, move it.Conagra Foods has theirs in bold at the top of the home page. Secondly, adding a mobile option will widen the site’s reach immensely. 77% of job searchers use mobile search apps. If your site isn’t mobile, that’s a huge missed opportunity. 

At the end of the day, your strategy should be to keep in mind that these are real people, looking for real jobs. What do they want to read, what do they need to know and how do you get that information to them quickly and easily? 

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photo credit: AngryJulieMonday via photopin cc