Bring Life to Your Career Page, Literally
You work for a company that believes in you, and you can feel it in your company culture. Your work environment is what most dream of, so you’re having a difficult time understanding why people don’t want to join your team.
So What’s Stopping Those Candidates from Hitting Reply?
The answer? Your career page — if wordy, unappealing to the eye, or not representative of your employer brand — could be the roadblock that’s stopping your potential applicants. Eighty-three percent of global recruiting leaders state that employer branding is critical in talent acquisition, so blast your employer brand across your career page and build excitement about the opportunities your company provides. Dr. John Sullivan estimates that around 25 percent of candidates are dissuaded from positions because job descriptions don’t display a strong employer brand.
Remember: job descriptions aren’t the only thing you can use to express your employer brand, so make sure to check out the tips below.
Don’t Just Paint the Picture
Even if you’re a literary genius whose words paint an enticing picture of your company’s culture, nothing beats visuals. Your career page shouldn’t be an informational session (no matter how great your vernacular is) — it should be an experience. Splash your company culture and work environment across the page using images and videos that represent what it’s like to work at your company. Visuals are the best form of communication, because the brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text.
Last week, Instagram launched its new app, Hyperlapse, which allows users to create high quality time-lapse videos with the iPhone. Click here to take a look at how Brightcove is using the Hyperlapse app to share their work environment and company culture on their career page. Plus, video content is social-media friendly when it comes to sharing, so if your video is compelling enough, it just might be shared. More shares equal more potential candidates.
Employee Testimonials with a Twist
Instead of plainly sharing employee testimonials on your career page, bring them to life (literally) by installing a live Twitter feed. Designate a specific hashtag among your current workforce and invite employees to tweet about exciting things happening around the office. Make sure to inform them that by using this hashtag, their tweets will be streamed on your company’s career page. It’s easy to set up:
- Log in to Twitter and go to Settings
- Click on Widgets and then Create New
- Under Choose a Timeline Source select Search
- Type in your designated hashtag and choose Display Options
- Click on Create Widget and Copy the HTML code into your Career Page
Keep it Under 2 Minutes
The traditional job description isn’t enough. The actual time applicants spend looking at a job description is anywhere from 49.2 to 76.7 seconds. That means you have less than a minute and a half to make an impression with your words, which isn’t enough. Think of the information that can fit into a two-minute video! Job postings that use video get viewed 12 percent more often than other job postings, and they receive 34 percent more applications.
“Obviously if they are looking at job or position descriptions, your audience is primarily made up of active prospects. But in the rare case where the so-called ‘passives’ (currently employed individuals who are not actively seeking a job), are for some reason viewing a job description, a dull description that is not noticeably more exciting or compelling than their current job will immediately cancel any interest that they had in shifting into job-search mode.” – Dr. John Sullivan
Nobody wants to work for a company, that nobody wants to work for … right? In fact, 55 percent of employees believe it’s important for other people to want to work for their employer, which makes sense. It’s in our human nature to desire what others possess if it appeals to us. So make candidates jealous of your organization by showcasing how special it is to be a part of the team.