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5 career site trends for 2016
Posted by Charles Kapec on March 10th, 2016 
How can you maximize your career site’s effectiveness, create a better candidate experience and achieve recruitment success? Here are the five trends that we believe will impact career sites as 2016 continues.
#1: Job search first
Research shows that the first action visitors take on your career site is to hit the job search button. That’s why it’s vital to make your search functionality extremely prominent; don’t bury it. Search buttons or links should be part of your main navigation, close to the top of the landing page and strategically placed in multiple locations throughout your site. And your search jobs page needs to be easy to navigate, with clear instructions and logical menus.
#2: Mobile is a must
Mobile is the go-to mechanism for communication, news, social media and entertainment. Increasingly, it is also the place where candidates begin their job search. We’re seeing most of our clients cross the 50% mark in terms of mobile vs. desktop visitors, with certain types of jobs (retail, restaurant) even higher. Your career site must be a responsive design that provides a great user experience on smaller devices. In fact, given where traffic is heading, it’s best to design for mobile and scale up for desktop, rather than the other way around.
#3: Less is more
When it comes to career site content, it’s important to be concise and relevant to candidates’ interests. Too much copy can turn off job seekers and be a waste of your efforts. Concentrate on compelling information that candidates are truly interested in. What makes your company a great place to work? What’s the culture like and what are some of the perks? Training, benefits, opportunities for advancement – focus on topics that attract talent.
#4: Tell stories
The greatest ambassadors for your organization are your current employees. Enlist them to provide testimonials. How did your organization support them at the outset of their careers? Why did they select you over your competitors? What made their career journey with you a progressive and satisfying experience? Testimonials can be embedded in your site as videos or as copy with photos. Just remember to tell your story through the source candidates relate to – the voice of their peers.
#5: Go bold
Better photography, bigger images and bolder colors on your career site will create that all-important first impression. Candidates don’t make special allowances for career sites – you need to compete with the visual impact of every site they visit. Work with a team that knows both recruitment and your brand to create a career site with maximum eye appeal and great content. Make an impression, offer a strong candidate experience and turn visitors into applicants.
Check out some of the career sites NAS has created for our clients. We’d be happy to help your organization, as well.
Charles Kapec
With NAS since 1993,Charles Kapec oversees all creative activities for an NAS team that includes copywriters/creative strategists, designer/developers and production. He provides creative direction for employment branding and career sites for all of the agency’s accounts, while serving as the main creative contact for many agency accounts.
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