As of May 2022, there were around 5.3 million more job openings than there are available people to fill them in the United States alone. For recruiters and hiring managers, this figure indicates that talent acquisition has never been more challenging than it is now.
And as businesses continue to require more great people to help them grow, the demand for talent is likely not going anywhere anytime soon.
However, an interesting development to note is a present increase in negotiation power on the candidates’ side. For example, 75% of employees surveyed by Indeed said that the pandemic actually resulted in more opportunities for them to select jobs.
If anything, these developments will prompt recruiters to start asking themselves about their recruitment strategies. Are their clients’ job openings attractive enough to candidates? What do they need to know to consider applying for a position? And are they making the most out of all available channels for hiring?
And while some of these concerns are not in most recruiters’ control, the last question definitely is.
In this article, we will thus be covering one of the most commonly overlooked, yet most effective recruitment channels that address these concerns: the Career Page.
A career page allows recruiters to appeal to many candidates’ deepest concerns before deciding to apply, such as what life is like at the office, what the company’s beliefs, vision, and mission are, among other things related to the human side of the company.
Read on to learn why career pages are one solution to finding stronger ways to convince candidates as they apply, so you can increase your chances of getting better hires. We will also be covering how to create a career page in literally minutes, instead of spending weeks developing one.
What exactly is a career page?
A career page can be defined as a page on your website that advertises available jobs or career paths. It also includes general information about the company, usually from the applicant’s point of view, to convince people to apply.
The career page, although often overlooked, can be compared to an applicant’s virtual “entrance” or “introduction” to the company. A good career page must allow applicants to visualize themselves at work, in terms of work life, growth opportunities, and what they will be working for in terms of the company’s vision and mission.
This is what makes it so valuable for businesses–and of course, recruiters too–because it is where the business can strongly influence an applicant’s decision to send in an application.
Typically, career pages are made up of a page to create and configure new job openings, and a backend system to record all applications into your database. And because of this, there are often two myths associated with owning and managing career pages:
Myth #1: Career pages take a long time to develop and manage.
This misconception likely stems from how career pages have many moving parts, like ever-changing job openings, photos of the office, call-to-action buttons, and the list goes on.
However, there are several tools out there in the modern HR/recruitment SaaS scene that enable you to create custom career pages in literally minutes instead of weeks. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) like Manatal, for example, come with a built-in career page builder or integration service, at no additional cost.
RELATED: 5 Inspiring Career Pages & How You Can Build Your Own with Manatal
Myth #2: Career pages cost a lot of money to maintain.
Again, modern tools allow you to create and manage a career page at no additional cost–other than the existing subscription cost you already pay for the tool.
That means you no longer need to pay any additional server or maintenance costs related to a career page, like website configuration or backend maintenance. Again, with an ATS like Manatal, all applications are automatically sent directly into the system, meaning there is no external backend system needed.
These debunked myths make it easier to see that career pages do not actually require as much effort or investment to maintain, compared to how things were several years ago. However, the ease of creating a career page these days does not fully justify exactly why having one is crucial to the success of your recruitment strategies.
So below, we will explore exactly why having a career page is necessary, beyond the borders of a simple, great-to-have mindset.
Why a career page is necessary for recruitment success
1. A company’s career page is a channel that helps you get applicants who have a demonstrated interest in the company.
In a general sense, career pages are arranged in such a way that an applicant would need to scroll through information about the company and its career paths before getting to the actual job openings.
This means that a person who applies through a company’s website will likely have been interested enough in the company to check its website before applying.
Compared to someone who applies en masse on job boards based on their category of choice–say, someone who applies for dozens of marketing-related jobs on a job site–the former would likely be more well-informed on the company’s vision, mission, and values.
This is not to say that people who apply on career pages will generally be of a higher quality than people who come from job board applications. The key here is that without a career page, you will be missing out on all of these people who have visited your website to learn more about the company, without a call to action for them to apply to start a career with you.
And the most important factor to consider here, is that without a career page, you will run the risk of losing these people to companies that do have career pages on their websites.
2. A career page provides valuable statistics that can be used to improve recruitment.
A recent survey by PwC in 2022 found that one of the biggest challenges for HR professionals is using HR insight/data analytics. In fact, career pages contain several sources of information that can be leveraged to improve recruitment strategies.
For example, you can find out more industry data based on which job openings received the most applications at a time, which job openings resulted in the most high-quality candidates, or whether career pages result in successful hires in general.
This process is much simpler if you use a career page that was generated by an ATS, because all applicant data is automatically sent to the ATS for storage and analysis. It can also tell you the channel from which each application came from.
Recording all these numbers and turning them into benchmarks will help you apply a data-driven approach to talent acquisition, with the goal of improving your strategies to hire more in less time.
So now that we have covered the benefits of having a career page, let us list down the most important components of a career page, so that you can construct one without having to start from scratch.
The Checklist: What needs to be on a career page?
A strong career page structure normally consists of these three components:
1. A few paragraphs introducing the company, its vision and mission, and most importantly, how it values its team members
This is generally where you draw applicants in, by convincing them that working for you will make them feel valued and that they will grow at the company.
When drafting a career page, include a few sentences about the company’s higher purpose–like its vision and mission–as well as what it means to be a part of the team. Also, include a few photos to illustrate your point.
Ideally, this description should be included somewhere near the top of the career page, as it is crucial that applicants get a chance to read it early on. It does not have to be over-complicated or overly designed for it to be effective.
Include anything that would be beneficial to the applicant, in terms of what they will get out of becoming an employee at the company. For example, you could include how diverse the company is, or what the growth outlook for their careers is like. Perks and company benefits are also great to include.
2. Easy access to all job openings, with a search bar for careers
Once you have drawn applicants in with a good company pitch, it is time to show them all available job openings. It is highly important to make this section easy to read, understand, and user-friendly.
Applicants should be able to browse all career options available, search for job openings that they are interested in, and learn where each job location is.
This layout will include all available job openings, keyword search, department search, and the location of each job. Each feature is provided and customizable under Manatal’s ATS, which means you can save weeks of design and development, and start advertising careers right away.
3. Interactive call-to-action buttons asking visitors to view job openings
This section is mandatory for every career page, as “Join Us” buttons and the like serve as direct calls to action for applicants to start filling out application forms from the career page.
Position-wise, call-to-action buttons should be placed both on top and at the bottom of a career page. This ensures that applicants will have ample opportunities to apply, while not overdoing it, and allowing the company description text and images to do their job.
Here are some examples of call-to-action buttons from Manatal’s career page:
The top button also serves as a good opportunity to apply employer branding imagery, like this:
And on the bottom, the call to action generally serves as a reminder for interested individuals to take action:
As you can see, this example included a closing paragraph inviting people to apply, even for those who might not fit the fixed roles available on the career page. This increases the chances of finding great people for your talent pool, for when a more pertinent position becomes available in the future.
How to build a career page in minutes with an ATS today
As mentioned above, modern HR and recruitment software now offers career page builders with their core services. Manatal, an ATS and CRM, offers a complete career page builder where all applications are automatically sent to your talent pool.
Manatal’s career page builder eliminates the need for any backend configuration, and on the front end, it allows users to customize their job openings, application forms, imagery, and text placement.
The application form customization interface is a drag-and-drop platform, where you can add new fields and different requirements, depending on the role.
Our system also allows for employer branding, such as this:
All career pages are compatible with Wix, WordPress, Squarespace, and other leading website builders.
Furthermore, Manatal’s career page features also allow for the integration of existing career pages, meaning you can integrate an existing career page and send all applications from that page to the ATS. This maximizes the chances of expanding your talent pool, so you can always have candidates on-hand for any new role.
Once applicants are collected, they are categorized by the ATS into different categories, so you can see where each applicant came from. This supports any data insights initiatives you may want to introduce to your recruitment strategy:
All of these features and more contribute to the speed and efficiency that Manatal’s ATS provides in building and configuring an effective career page. With tools like these, recruiters and HR professionals will no longer have to rely on traditional career page builders that take weeks to configure.
Your Key Takeaways
The search for talent is likely going to get more competitive in the coming years. This is precisely why recruiters and HR professionals will have to make the most of all recruitment channels.
Career pages, although overlooked as an important hiring channel, can often be the difference between getting the perfect candidate for a role and missing out on them.
A company’s career page provides a great opportunity to convince website visitors to apply, by educating them about the company and what their life and career would be like should they join.
And most importantly, career pages can now be built in literally minutes with the right tool for the job.
To find out how Manatal’s ATS can help you build a comprehensive career page while transforming the way you recruit, we currently have a free, 14-day trial to use the entire platform. To sign up for the free trial, click here today.
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