Kill Your Career Page
Guest Post by Meredith Toole
“Kill your career page.” It was a recommendation I made to a client last week. I was met with a blank stare and then he said “but how can we do that? It’s where we post our open positions.”
Would this have been your response?
Would the CEO, HR Leader or Recruiter in your organization have a similar reaction?
Let me be clear. You still need a career page as part of your company website, but, career pages are no longer where you post your open jobs. Your career page is your first opportunity to engage with prospective talent that is looking for a glimpse into who you really are and chances are there is nothing unique about your career page. Don’t believe me? Here’s how I would know:
- You have stale job descriptions with lackluster titles. Would you rather be a recruiter or a talent scout? Maybe neither, but the latter at least sparks some curiosity.
- You highlight generic perks and benefits or worse, you highlight the obvious things that people have come to expect. Recently I saw a company tout they provide coffee…geez, I sure hope the restroom isn’t considered an extra.
- You have overused statements that describe your corporate culture. Some of my personal favorites include variations of: “we are a great place to work”, “we work hard and play hard” or “we like to have fun.” Nothing special about that. I could show you 5 of your competitors who say the exact same thing.
Cut the generic messaging & create an
engaging employment brand
In an environment where every company in every industry is fighting for top talent, you can’t afford to be average. You don’t want to be seen as looking for a warm body to fill a gap. The only thing that is worse than a career page which reflect the points above are those with even less substance (yes, it’s possible). In the absence of information, people will create their own story (brand or be branded as they say).
Creating a strong, cohesive and enticing employment brand is a business requirement that will separate you from your competitors. Engagement with your brand will attract the right type of talent, enable you to become an employer of choice and fuel business growth. Revamping your career page will take some tweaking. But using your page to attract top talent is more attainable than you think.
1 Step Employment Branding
Tell a story - Stories create visions, evoke emotion
and are memorable.
- Communicate the company mission, vision, values and beliefs. People want to know why the company exists, who is leading the team, what difference the work is making in the marketplace and what you value. Make it easy for them to connect your purpose to their own.
- Showcase your team. People want to know who they will be working with. There is a surge in employee profiles, formal videos, employee blog posts, links to LinkedIn, etc. Make it easy for people to see themselves as part of your team.
- Describe your culture in a tangible way. People need to know that your message is authentic. Publish the results of your employee surveys or other statistics that back up who you say you are.
- Nix the boiler plate job descriptions. People aren’t interested in a list of responsibilities and qualifications. Use success profiles, role descriptions, case studies and project overviews to describe the clients or customers someone will work with, the problems and challenges they’ll get to solve, and any training or development you’ll provide so they are at the top of their game.
Sound simple? Creating your employment brand isn’t something that requires a tremendous investment of time or money since most of this information is at your fingertips. Stay ahead of your competitors and put the creation or enhancement of your company employment brand at the top of your 2015 strategic priorities.
About the Author
Meredith Toole is Founder and CEO of Talent Point Consulting, a Philadelphia based management consulting firm focused on helping startup and emerging growth firms solve recruiting challenges. Need help? We host open office hours each Thursday from 8-12 EST to answer questions about this blog post, discuss your recruiting challenges, network and more. Book your first consultation!