Gaining A Competitive Advantage Through Your Career Site

There are numerous ways to improve one’s athletic ability or business. In terms of the latter, sometimes the easiest way to make an improvement is by adjusting the basics, such as the way you hire. People are the main core of any business. If you really want to develop your business’s core, then you have to readjust the way you select your employees, starting with your career site.

Modernize Your Site to Attract Better Talent

Think of your careers page as a national billboard or TV commercial that best represents your business. There are probably many things you want to tell and/or show your audience about your company, right? In this case your audience are the job seekers surfing the web, looking for a new career opportunity. While this is the main reason for any business to have a careers page, not everyone utilizes it the right way.

The one the worst things you can do for your career site is nothing. Just having one isn’t enough. You have to keep up with the ever-changing trends in tech and social media. If you’re site isn’t, at the very least, equal to that of your competitors then you can say goodbye to the better crop of talent that’ll be applying to jobs elsewhere.

6 Things to Ask Yourself:

Not sure what a modern careers page looks like? Here are some questions that can better help you assess the state of your business’s career site:

1.) Do you have a separate page on your website dedicated for job seekers?

2.) Do you regularly update and post jobs you’re hiring for?

3.) Do you have an easy, quick process for applicants to apply for your jobs on the page?

4.) Are you providing plenty of information about your company on the page, such as: background on company, its culture, expectations, involvement in the community, etc.?

5.) Are you displaying any video, links or photos that better explain your business and workplace environment?

6.) Does your site have the appropriate links connected to job postings and social media sites?

These are only a few questions that can help you better measure the state of your careers page. If you’re missing anything, don’t worry. These are all simple fixes that can be made within the office. Like gaining any other competitive edge, all it takes is a little effort.

Your company’s job postings are similar in the sense that the fact that you’re hiring IS big news and that it SHOULD be shared with everyone. To really grab the attention of better job candidates, you have to show off your updated site and fully promote your open positions. Otherwise, don’t expect to gain much traffic to that part of your website.

Promoting Your Careers Page

Promoting your jobs can be simple, inexpensive and effective if you know what you’re doing. It’s also an easy way to get ahead of your competitors. You want to be louder and more enthusiastic with your hiring approach compared to your competition. Job seekers will be much more likely to apply for your open positions if you show a little gusto.

In order to make sure you’re taking advantage of everything you can do to attract the right job seekers, here are some useful tips to fully promote your career site:

• On your company website, make sure your careers page is visible and accessible on the home page
• Create a banner on the homepage that mentions your hiring — “Click here to see our open positions”
• Post your all of your current open positions on your page and be sure to close the ones you’ve already filled
• Write a blog and provide a link to your job postings
• Share careers link on social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube (create a hiring video), Google+, etc.) and let everyone know you’re currently hiring
• Email signatures — Have your employees add a link to your careers page with a note saying something like, “We’re hiring!”
• Ask to post a message with a link to your careers page on your business partners’ websites and/or networks

Get creative about the way you promote your careers site. Don’t let your competitors outdo your approach to hiring. No matter how you choose to promote your site and job openings, ensure that you’re using the right channels that best fit for your company and its culture. If you represent your business well on your site, you’re more likely to attract the type of talent and personalities you’ll want working for your company.

There are countless ways you can grab an applicant’s attention; just make sure they can get to your site with ease and see what your company has to offer.