09. March 2021

Why are career websites important for employer branding?

For most companies, their own career page - as part of the company website or as a stand-alone platform - is the most important channel for publishing vacancies. According to Recruiting Trends 2020, the top 1,000 companies published 86.4% of their job advertisements on their own site. For IT companies, the figure was as high as 98.3%. In contrast, only 74.1% (top 1,000 companies) or 80.8% (IT companies) ended up on internet job portals. The study predicts that the company's own career website will become even more relevant in the future: Almost nine out of ten companies expect their career website to be used even more effectively in 2030 - especially in conjunction with digital applicant management and corresponding IT in HR.

Top 10 advantages of a career website regarding employer branding

A well-created career website can become your company's flagship in the recruiting process. Here we have clearly summarised the top 10 advantages of your own career page for your employer branding:

You can freely design your career page according to your individual needs and requirements and always have full control over this employer branding measure.
You are independent of guidelines or accessibility of third-party providers, such as online job portals, and do not have to expect any additional costs.
Your career site acts as a content hub and the most important contact point for interested parties from other channels such as career fairs, online job portals or social media platforms. Your career page combines all the important information about the advertised vacancy, the application process, important contacts and your company.
Your career website saves candidates and your HR team time in the recruiting process, as it can answer all important questions of potential candidates in advance. In addition, applications can be made possible directly via the website, as an important component of digital application management.
New job advertisements and changes in the company description appear immediately. You have full flexibility regarding your data and content.
Your career website communicates your employer brand. You have the opportunity to tell your story in an appealing and exciting way. For example, you can also integrate elements of the company brochure etc. for which there is no room on online job portals and so on. Put your EVP in the right light.
If required, you can create your own landing pages for specific target groups or vacancies - SEO optimised. Let search engines find you.
Career websites increase the company's online visibility and drive traffic to your site.
You can implement a calendar of events on your career website if necessary. This is particularly interesting if you as an employer are represented at career days or recruiting fairs or hold your own recruiting events. Use your Career Page as a platform to inform your target group about upcoming events - optionally also via e-mail notification.
Career pages offer you diverse and dynamic content options: from blog entries to videos, podcasts, images and the integration of social media channels, everything is possible. Offer your candidates varied, entertaining content with added value. This will give them a good insight into your company and your employer brand and promote early bonding of new employees to your company. Use the opportunity to generate enthusiasm through your career website as an employer branding measure.

All roads lead to your career website

Interested applicants will end up on your career website sooner or later. Even though, according to Recruiting Trends 2020, 54.9% of applicants use internet job boards, 32.3% use career networks and 31.1% use search engines to find out about vacancies or potential employers, they will all be redirected to your career website if you take our tips to heart. Because: Your career website can do more than just list new job vacancies. On your career site, you have the chance to inspire potential new employees with your strong employer brand, give them an insight into the company culture and company itself and provide important information for the recruiting process. Below we have compiled the top 10 tips to ensure that your career page delivers the essential added value. Not only to attract applicants, but also to make your career page easy to find by search engines and reduce recruiting time.

This should not be missing on a career website: Top 10 points for success

Before you start the conception and design of your career website, you should ask yourself what goals you want to achieve with it and how you weight them:

Normally, a career website should inform the preferred target group about vacancies and the company's unique selling propositions that set it apart from the competition and make it particularly attractive. In addition, it should be a platform that motivates interested parties to apply and makes this possible in a user-friendly and easy way.

A career website is much more than a list of available jobs. It is worth investing time and energy in the following points to ensure that your career page is successfully used as a promising measure in the employer branding process:

01. Centre of Recruiting

Make your career page the hub of your recruiting and provide all relevant information about the advertised position. In addition to a clear job description with a job profile and expected competences, this also includes additional general conditions such as any time limits or the type of employment (full-time or part-time). In addition, the place of work should be clearly specified and the benefits of your company, such as mobile working, home office etc., should be mentioned.
Make sure that the texts of your job advertisements do not appear generic and replaceable. Use SEO-relevant search terms in the page title and in the job title so that your page can be found later. Always bear in mind that the text should whet the appetite of interested candidates for the tasks to be fulfilled. Ideally, you should name a specific contact person for technical queries. Also indicate a contact person to whom applicants should send their documents or enable direct application via an online form on your career page. Make it clear which documents are required and in which form - this saves applicants and your recruiting team from having to ask questions. You can also include FAQs on your career page or a chat bot that is available around the clock

02. Current Vacancies

Make it clear whether it is a new vacancy and hide advertisements that are no longer current. Outdated information means unnecessary extra work for applicants and your recruiting team.

03. Transparent application process

3. Make the application process and all further steps transparent - especially the time frame. Applicants find the waiting phases particularly stressful. Your recruiting specialists should not skimp on information and regular contact. Resentment quickly arises and interested candidates change their minds! If your application procedure is digitalised, you can visualise the status of the application promptly to the applicants in a separate login area. You cannot repeat the first impression. Use this opportunity to show appreciation for your applicants right at the beginning of the candidate journey and communicate individually - call your applicants by name.

04. Targeted addressing

Make basic decisions about the tone and manner of address that should prevail during the application process and all related contact. This tone should match your company and be reflected in all texts on your career website. This creates a sense of continuity and authenticity.

05. User friendly design

When choosing the design for your career page, make sure that it not only fits your corporate identity, but also that it appeals to your desired target group. However, user-friendly usability should be guaranteed. It is also essential that the career page is optimised for mobile devices.

06. Positioning as an employer

6. The majority of candidates inform themselves about the employer before applying in order to weigh up whether they fit in with the company and feel comfortable there in the long term. On your career website you have the chance to position yourself in detail as an employer and to present your employer brand:

What is your company culture like?
What values does the company represent?
How agile and innovative is the work?
Has your company won awards and prizes?
Do you show social commitment? Do you perhaps support certain institutions?
How is work and family life compatible? Do you have a company childcare centre?
What benefits do you offer (company pension scheme, sports facilities, job tickets, eBike leasing etc.)?

Answer all relevant points authentically, meaningfully and credibly and make your career website your business card as an employer. Put your Employer Value Proposition (EVP) in the right light: show what makes you unique as an employer and inspire your candidates!

07. Insights into the working day

7. Give a lively insight into the everyday working life of your employees and use them as ambassadors. You can publish interviews and statements from your employees on your career page. Use real footage from your company and not just any stock photos. Your new employees will recognise colleagues and rooms. On the one hand, this provides security, but it also shows the appreciation your company has for its employees. Be proud of your staff - they contribute significantly to the economic success of your company.

08. Relevant Content

Pick up on topics that are on your candidates' minds on your career website. Candidate listening is becoming increasingly important to understand what is currently on your target audience's mind. For example, in actual magazine articles, you can point out your workplace protections around corona and how you deal with the issue as an employer in general.

09. Success monitoring

You can always get better! Implement analytic tools to monitor success. You can only optimise your career site in the long term if you can see where interested applicants leave your site or stay longer.

10. Stay up-to-date

In principle, you should revise your career page at regular intervals and adapt it to current circumstances. An outdated career page damages your image as an employer. An up-to-date, attractively designed career page with added-value content strengthens your employer branding and offers you an invaluable advantage in the "war for talents".

Contact:

Contact us for a conversation! As an employer branding agency, we will be happy to advise you on all aspects of your career website.
Katrin Jetter (Senior Consultant)
[email protected]

Further information and source reference:

White Paper PreScreen: Die optimale Karriereseite für erfolgreiches Recruiting und eine starke Employer Brand

Social Recruiting und Active Sourcing. Ausgewählte Ergebnisse der Studien „Recruiting Trends 2020“ und „Bewerbungspraxis 2020“ des Centre of Human Resources Information Systems (CHRIS: Forschungsprojekt der Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg und der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg) im Auftrag der Monster Worldwide Deutschland GmbH.

Digitalisierung und Zukunft der Arbeit. Ausgewählte Ergebnisse der Studien „Recruiting Trends 2020“ und „Bewerbungspraxis 2020“ des Centre of Human Resources Information Systems (CHRIS: Forschungsprojekt der Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg und der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg) im Auftrag der Monster Worldwide Deutschland GmbH.