How important is it to have a good careers section on your website? Looking at the vast majority of small and medium sized businesses’ websites, the careers section is usually languishing as an afterthought to all the sales messages and service related information. Considering that for most businesses their people are their most important asset, shouldn’t they be making more of their website to help them attract the right people into their company?

We are in the process of revamping our careers section: we’re certainly guilty of neglecting it. As part of the process we have taken a look at several careers pages from leading employers in the UK. As with the websites in general  the quality of the careers sections vary quite significantly and it is very obvious which businesses are using their websites as an important tool in attracting the best people.

Two careers sections that really stood out for us were Innocent Drinks and McKinsey Consulting.

Both of these are at different ends of the spectrum in terms of tone of voice and presentation, but despite their different styles they share a best practice approach. Using these approaches both small and large businesses can make better use of their websites in attracting the right people to work with them.

All the businesses we work with share one thing in common, and that is that they are ambitious to be the best at what they do. Whether that be the best at x in their local area, or the greatest at y in the world, a desire to be the best at what they do is a key driver for them all. Finding people who can share this vision and bring bags of energy, enthusiasm and ability to their team is essential to their success.

Here are some important lessons that can be learnt from the best practice examples we have observed.

Make it clear what you are about

Differentiating your business to your customers or clients is essential for every business. Many businesses have realised the importance of a purpose statement and supporting values, but for many these are hidden away on a pin board somewhere in the office and perhaps brought out once a year at the annual results meeting. Every now and then it might venture out on to the “About Us” page of the website.

If your purpose and values are really going to be an important part of your business they need to be at the heart of everything you do. Your people need to live and breathe them. Both Innocent and McKinsey have made what they are about central to their careers microsites and we see this as a must have for any successful careers section. If your potential candidates are inspired by what you are about from the outset, when they get the job they’ll be the first to make sure the business is staying true to its values. Don’t be shy in getting your purpose and values clearly spelled out in your careers section so potential candidates don’t have to search all over your site to find them.

What are you looking for?

Most businesses will have common traits they are looking for in their people, no matter what job they are recruiting for. If you don’t know what these are, look at your best people and try to identify some common traits. Even if they are massively different, you’ll probably find something that links them together. It is a bit like us and our clients – one can be selling car accessories and another highly complex software solutions, but as we said before they all have the common trait of the desire to be the best at what they do.

Making it obvious what you are looking for helps candidates determine up front if they have what is required. Often they will have, but they might need to have a think about things before you put them on the spot. Some candidates might go blank with nerves when they have to think on the spot and some prior preparation will help them perform to the best of their abilities. Giving people the resources they need to prepare for interview is important and can be a useful filtering process: if you have provided all the information they need there is no excuse for not being prepared.

How do you support your people?

Working for a living is trade off and the best people understand this. If they are going to be giving their valuable time, energy and expertise to a business they want to make sure they are supported and developed. If you want to attract the best people, being clear about what you’ll be giving them over and above their monthly pay cheque is really important. This can be training, making sure their views are listened to and acted on, or simple things like their birthdays being celebrated.

All of these things will help your business stand out and make you more attractive to the best candidates.

Both of our examples clearly spell this out – home-made cakes and smoothies for Innocent staff, training, contacts and working with the best for McKinsey’s.

The application process

The best approach for this can be a bit of a quandary. Do you want to give away all your interviewing secrets, or enable candidates to be as well prepared as possible? None of the best sites give everything away but they do give potential candidates plenty of resources to prepare themselves for the application process and interview.

Our view is that to follow this best practice and give plenty of resources for candidates to prepare. As we said before prior preparation and planning is a great attribute and candidates that take the time to prepare will generally stand head and shoulders above those that don’t. Give them all the resources they need to do the best job possible. It provides a level playing field and will quickly give you an insight into the candidate.

Both the example sites we gave have online application forms, which we think are a really good idea. The Innocent Drinks application form is short and sweet, with some interesting quirky questions in true Innocent style. It reflects their brand and makes for a good approach for smaller businesses.

The McKinsey approach is a lot more formal and in-depth and is probably more suitable for larger companies or those companies recruiting for larger volumes of people and requiring a more detailed application filter as early in the process as possible.

Application forms will give you a consistent view of all applicants. CVs will tend to be very varied: asking your own probing questions in an application process can help make sure you cover some of the essentials before candidates come in for interview and will aid in the initial screening.

Examples of people working in the business

Both of our examples use real life examples of people working in the business. Innocent’s is very high level using Polaroid style images and quick notes of what some staff enjoy most about working at Innocent, retaining their quirky style. McKinsey’s is again a more formal approach with full photos of example staff members, a snippet bio and in a page insight into what their life is like at McKinsey.

Again these insights help potential candidates understand more about your culture and what you are all about.

If you are looking at improving the recruitment section of your site, following some of these best practice examples will help you stand out from the crowd.

In addition, a well structured careers section can help in your overall marketing. If candidates are impressed with your business they are more likely to link and recommend it to others, increasing your overall online profile.

We’d love to get your thoughts on best practice examples for careers sections. Perhaps you’re running a business and are really proud of your careers site, or you’ve got some great examples you’d like to share with us. Drop us a line with any contributions via the comments below.

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Marketing General recruitment, recruitment marketing