If you’re looking to launch your first careers site or improve your current recruitment website design, it can be tricky to know where to start.

There are many areas to consider, depending on what you want to achieve with your careers site. Whether you’re designing the site yourself or looking to work with a careers site supplier, we’ve put together some key questions you should ask as a starting point.

What questions should you ask in your recruitment website design process?

1. Is it an appropriate structure for your hiring requirements?

There are endless ways of presenting your careers site; some companies will have a full-blown mini website with dozens of pages full of content and advanced job filtering options, whereas others may just have a list of vacancies on a single page.

Neither of the options above are right or wrong. The most important thing to remember when choosing the structure and layout of your careers site is to ensure that it works for your business and your hiring requirements.

For example, if you advertise dozens of vacancies across multiple departments or locations, it’s likely that you will require more sophisticated search functionality, allowing jobseekers to filter your job list to find jobs in their area or that match their skill-set. However, if you only advertise a handful of jobs at any one time, a simpler option could be more appropriate for you.

2. Does it adhere to your corporate brand?

Just as your employer brand should be an extension of your corporate brand, your recruitment website design should be an extension of your corporate website.

Consistent branding and messaging is important for jobseekers. It creates a sense of trust in your brand, which is key if they are considering applying for a job with your company, and helps to make a great first impression.

We would recommend including your Marketing Team in all discussions surrounding your careers site. They will be able to advise on brand colours, messaging and imagery to be used, ensuring a smooth transition from your corporate website.

3. Does it help you build your talent pool?

Careers sites are a great tool to attract jobseekers and build interest in your employer brand. However, what happens to the users who land on your page and want to work for your company but don’t see any vacancies that match their skill-set or requirements?

It’s important to find a way to capture this speculative talent so you don’t lose out on it. While you might not have any suitable jobs available at the moment, you might do in the future so you should look to incorporate functionality that will allow jobseekers to register their interest in working for you.

For example, Webrecruit’s careers sites allow visitors to sign up for Job Alerts, which will notify them when a relevant job becomes available that matches their requirements. They’re a great way of keeping candidates engaged and a fantastic advertising tool for your business.

4. Does your content engage candidates?

While we’re on the topic of engagement, filling your careers site with engaging content is key. Your careers site is a recruitment marketing tool, where your aim should be to convert visitors into applicants.

(Read more: 5 Ways to Recruit Like a Marketer)

Your content should capture the attention of your audience. Consider what questions they might have about careers at your company and focus on building your content around that. We’d recommend getting your colleagues involved; this could be in the form of employee videos, career development case studies or anything that sells the benefits of applying for a job with your business.

 

Need some further tips with your recruitment website design? Download Webrecruit’s free eBook, the Beginner’s Guide to Careers Sites.