By Nicole Guenther - Web Designer/Developer
This is the first article in a series of three.

What if ... your career site attracted, engaged, informed, and even screened qualified candidates? If your career site did each of these things, it would be capturing information and applications from both job-seeking candidates and perhaps highly qualified, passive candidates visiting your site. Chances are, though, that your career site is lacking one or more of the critical components that combine to create a dynamic candidate experience. This is the first in our series of "Career Site Bits" that will address the best practices of career sites, including the advanced content, functionality, and design practices that help you optimize your career site into a finely tuned recruitment tool.

What's in it for me:
Your career site and the candidate experience.

Every organization is different – different in size, culture, mission and recruiting practices. Thus, every organization will need a career site that is unique and reflective of these differences. Although each career site will be different, the content on each site should be driven by one unifying factor: the candidate experience. What will the candidate want or need to know about your company and the opportunities offered there? The most basic content areas can include

• About Our Company
• Mission/Vision
• History
• Values
• Careers at Our Company
• Benefits/Compensation
• Testimonials/Profiles
• Diversity
• Campus Recruiting
• Locations
• Career Events
• Career News
• Contact Us
• FAQs
  and, most important,
• Search and Apply – including job postings

Let's take a closer look at these areas.

From the basic...
To the more robust.

"About Our Company," "Mission/Vision," "History," and "Values" are all content areas that you may already have on your existing site, or are "must-haves" if you are creating a new site. These areas offer the candidate basic information and insight, as well as complement content on the culture of the company from the perspective of the employment experience.

"Careers at Your Company" could — and should — be one of the more content-rich areas of a career site. This is where candidates can learn more about your organization's structure, your various departments/business areas, and the associated opportunities. It can include comprehensive information about positions and career paths, written to convey your employment value proposition — to sell candidates on the opportunities with you.

Another area where you can show, and not just tell, a candidate what they can expect as part of your team is through "Benefits/Compensation." That is, after all, the essence of "benefits" – the "what's in it for me" aspect of working with you. And that goes beyond vacation and 401(k), to offer information about training, internal mobility, and other aspects related to personal and professional enhancement.

Testimonials and profiles are a great way for candidates and companies to relate on a "personal" level through the site. As I will address later in this series, testimonials and profiles also offer a natural means for keeping the career site updated and fresh.

Different organizations handle "Diversity" on their Web sites in different ways. Some companies have a dedicated "Diversity" page. Others incorporate diversity messaging throughout the site.

For companies where attracting college graduates is a priority, "Campus Recruiting" is a vital component of the career site. This area can include content about campus events, internships, and additional training programs. Because of the target audience, the messaging and tone may be slightly different here than from elsewhere on the site. The candidate experience must resonate with the student audience.

Similar to "Campus Recruiting," "Locations" may not be necessary on every career site. Content in this area might list locations, the type of location (e.g., corporate, store, distribution, manufacturing, etc.), and any additional pertinent information a candidate may be looking for — such as amenities, convenience, maps, and so on.

Another timely area of the career site is "Career Events" where listings of events — virtual and brick-and-mortar – detail titles, addresses, dates, times, and possibly even directions.

Candidates can have the opportunity to learn the latest about your company through recent press releases and industry awards posted to the "Career News" section of your site.

In terms of other basics, the "Contact Us" area provides addresses, emails, fax, phone numbers, and other general information. The "FAQs" area addresses typical questions that visitors to your career site might be asking. This could include information about the hiring process and the communication – between your company and the candidate – that will begin when an application is submitted.

Most important, the "Search and Apply" section, including the job postings that reside there, will enable the candidate to explore, inquire, and submit applications to open positions through online mechanisms. Remember, job postings offer a prime opportunity to dramatically impact the candidate experience. Postings can be written in a candidate-focused style, to sell the relevance of the opportunity and the employment experience. Naturally, this area specifically reflects each company and its own recruiting needs. The functionality of "Search and Apply" and the job postings area will be addressed in a later article.

Basically important.

Although the career site areas discussed here may be straightforward, it is important to address how the content is presented to the candidate. Web copy should be kept concise, conversational, and straightforward. Each area should explain the benefits for the candidate as well as the employee value proposition as it relates to each area. By keeping the candidate top of mind when creating the content for the career site, you can ensure a meaningful experience that shows your respect for the candidate and delivers a truthful message.

Please stay tuned: Future articles will focus on advanced content, design and brand, and functionality of career sites — always with respect to the candidate experience.

If you would like to discuss more about career sites with Shaker, please contact nicole.guenther@shaker.com.