It’s the year 2024 and the whole country is still facing a shortage of skilled workers. The whole country? No! Some persistent companies manage to continue standing out in the labor market, despite nationwide staffing shortages, and are winning the battle for qualified employees. This blog post will show you how to achieve this with your website, without needing to hire expensive headhunters.
Achieving Success in the Battle for Skilled Workers with Your Own Recruiting Page
Recruiting new employees is a topic that nowadays mostly takes place in the digital space. As with many other areas of life, pen and paper have been replaced by emails and contact forms. While this may be less personal, it saves time and is more convenient for all parties involved. To capture the attention of a candidate and enable contact, having your own website has become more important than ever. It provides a first impression of the company and delivers crucial information that is of specific interest to applicants. Many companies use a career portal or a dedicated career section for this purpose. We’ll discuss the difference between these later.
In addition to structure, the visibility of a page is a key topic. That’s why your own homepage is particularly well-suited to serve as the first point of contact for applicants. Every visitor to your site is a potential employee. And this doesn’t just refer to those actively looking for jobs. One can never know by which means a page or an application form might reach a highly qualified candidate. A friend of a friend or a customer who “just wants to look at” the job openings might end up becoming a long-term colleague.
One goal, therefore, must be to generate lively “traffic” on your homepage. Of course, a targeted and audience-appropriate approach must not be missing. A well-designed website with attractive images and subpages allows the visitor to quickly determine whether they are a customer or an applicant. Additionally, SEO measures already in place can serve dual purposes: increasing visibility for both employee AND customer acquisition. If you already have traffic on your site, make sure to take advantage of all the synergies that arise.
Building a Career Portal with a Clear Structure
When setting up a career section on your website, there are several elements to consider. A highly visible image directly at the center of the page or as a pop-up draws the viewer’s attention to recruitment. Many companies also place a link to their career section or portals in the very top or bottom of the homepage. This ensures easy navigation and immediately draws the visitor’s attention to available offerings.
If a potential applicant decides to visit the career section only after spending some time on the website, this is not made difficult by a nested structure or cumbersome navigation. Career changes can often be a spontaneous impulse or emotional decision. Here, we differentiate between actively and passively searching applicants. For the latter group, it is crucial to make it as easy as possible for the interested party to apply.
A clearly visible recruiting section has another advantage: It signals to your visitors that your company is growing and must therefore be successful in the market. After all, hardly any company recruits employees if it is close to bankruptcy.
Targeted Recruiting in 2024 Made Possible Thanks to Career Portals
In addition to simply listing job openings on their homepage, many companies use career portals or sections. These aim to specifically address suitable applicants, provide information, and encourage them to make contact. Here, a visually altered approach must be made clear to show that the company is recruiting future colleagues, not customers.
General information about the company’s history, philosophy, and culture also needs to be tailored to the target audience. What works on the main page to impress customers or investors might not have the same effect on applicants. On the contrary, it could even discourage them! For example, if a company is active in the B2B sector, it must adapt its content and presentation to suit a new target audience. The job market is a B2C market, where a personal and authentic approach works wonders.
In a career portal, the goal is generally to answer most of the applicant’s questions before the personal interview even happens. What the new position entails and what the promotion opportunities are: These are topics of specific interest. The work location and information or images of colleagues and leadership also help provide a deeper impression of the company. Testimonials, such as videos with short comments from current employees, give a company that might otherwise seem distant real depth. However, make sure that these are authentic insights from real employees.
This “behind-the-scenes” view helps the applicant build an emotional connection to their new workplace. It allows them to truly envision working together. This gives your company authenticity and sets it apart from competitors, especially those that present themselves as an enigma, assuming the right applicant will just apply. However, no false promises should be made, as this might attract employees, but they won’t stay long-term.
Content and Design of Career Pages Are the Key to Success
The design and structure of a recruiting section must meet certain criteria to be perceived as particularly appealing. The most important and central element of an optimized career page is the clear presentation of all job openings. To avoid overwhelming an interested party with information, it’s possible to display this, for example, on a separate subpage. Whether this is a good idea depends on the company and its specific needs.
The listing can be done according to various criteria, such as chronologically by the posting date or by urgency. A direct way for applicants to contact the company is indispensable, usually done via application forms. However, it is much more convenient to offer a feature that allows applicants to directly upload all application documents to the relevant contact person. Here’s something to always remember: Make it as easy as possible for both you and the applicant to make contact.
In addition to listing job openings, it is important to specify the benefits of a job directly. After all, salary isn’t the only thing that matters nowadays, although it certainly plays a key role. Particularly younger generations focus on a balanced work-life ratio. The ability to work from home and not have to go to the office every day has become increasingly popular, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. This also applies to the technical equipment of the workplace. Outdated operating systems and paper files have already deterred many applicants. This “added value” of a job is also referred to as the Employer Value Proposition and clearly shows what exact advantages your company offers compared to competitors.
From a technical point of view, the use of a content management system (CMS) is essential for your own career site. This allows web content to be adapted without having to change the design. In particular, job advertisements can be added quickly and easily or taken offline once they have been filled.
Corporate Design Helps Maintain Consistency Across Many Pages
Design requirements mostly focus on consistency and clarity. Corporate Identity and Corporate Design provide clear guidelines that a career page must follow. In communication, a unified appearance is crucial for increased visibility and brand recognition. Especially highly qualified applicants prefer to apply to professional companies with a consistent external appearance based on clear communication guidelines. After all, who wants to work for an unserious employer?
The Dilemma: Job Boards, Career Sections, or Career Platforms?
Finally, we come to the question raised at the beginning: Which is the better choice, external job boards, a career portal, or a career section on your own website? The right alternative for your organization depends on your needs and the exact profile you’re looking for in candidates.
External job boards are a quick and cost-effective method. Job openings can be posted and displayed neatly on third-party sites. However, only limited information about the company and its culture or benefits can be provided. Additionally, on job boards, not only your company’s postings are displayed but also those from other organizations. Be aware that you’ll be in direct competition with other job offers. If only a few positions are posted or there is no in-house website, this method can be effective. The relatively low cost is a deciding factor for many users, although your job postings might quickly get lost among others. The job board’s algorithm is especially responsible for this. It can list jobs almost randomly, unless expensive advertising spots are purchased. Furthermore, there is no possibility to tailor the presentation to individual applicant profiles.
Alternatively, you can manage recruiting via your own website. This can be done either through a career section as a subpage of your company’s homepage or through a separate career portal. Both essentially serve the same purpose: They allow clear separation between your online presence for customers and job seekers. The main advantage here is that, unlike job boards, applicants of various profiles can be specifically targeted.
Moreover, candidates who are redirected from your own homepage to the recruitment section are generally more promising. Unlike visitors coming via a job board, these candidates are more likely to already have a connection with your company.
A career portal is the most expensive option, as it requires a second page in addition to the company’s homepage. It is particularly suited for larger organizations or corporations with many positions to fill. Especially when the same job is available for different locations, it can address both the job profile and the specific working environment. The added value of the portal is its better navigability and clarity. This enhanced user experience increases the time applicants spend on your site, which in turn raises the likelihood of them applying for positions.
A subpage on the homepage is a promising option, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. Here, the focus is on providing a balanced cost-to-benefit ratio. Visitors to your homepage can directly learn about job openings on a subpage. This also allows specific positions and desired applicant profiles to be presented in detail, offering a real insight into the job. However, avoid listing too many jobs this way, as it could compromise the user experience and clarity.
Of course, besides simply posting jobs online, many other opportunities exist to engage in effective recruiting. Strong employer branding, for example, works wonders. Whether at career fairs, through analog advertising, or social recruiting: Many roads lead to success. However, it’s important that the chosen path aligns with your company, the applicant profile, and corporate identity.
Through Your Own Career Page, You Become a Pioneer in Talent Acquisition
In conclusion, it can be stated that there are many ways to fill open positions through online recruiting. Which of the three described methods is right for your organization is a decision only you can make. It is important that the costs are balanced against the actual benefits. In the increasingly competitive labor market and with ongoing gloomy forecasts about demographic change, modern companies must use every tool to stay ahead. “Human capital” remains the most important resource for Germany’s economy – and it will continue to be. Whether you tackle this challenge via an external job board, a career section, or a career portal is up to you.
However, what matters most is that you approach recruiting skilled workers systematically, appropriately, and authentically. The most successful approach is to seek professional support from branding agencies when posting job openings, to avoid rookie mistakes. Only with external partners can you overcome “company blindness” and gain a true understanding of how you are seen from the outside. This helps maintain your position in the market, even in times of skilled labor shortages, and continue to succeed.