Improve your career site: what we learned visiting 250+ company career pages
The Stories Inc. team constantly reads career sites, from Fortune 500 companies to mid-sized organizations. A team member read over 250 careers sites, page by page, over one summer! After reading all of that content, from pages to subpages, and watching all of the videos, here are our findings to improve your career site.
What we learned after researching 250+ careers sites
There’s a pattern
Every career site followed a similar pattern. Every company states that it values diversity and inclusion, provides career growth opportunities, and has a values-based culture. However, these statements are worded almost exactly the same on each career site. In fact, about 25% had the exact same phrase to describe their diversity and inclusion efforts.
Takeway: The majority of career sites do not have content that sets them apart from others.
Employee testimonials are generalizations
Employee testimonials abound and are sometimes billed as stories, but they mostly were generalities and broad statements. The testimonials could apply anywhere. Tellingly, the vast majority did not give any clarity into what it’s like to work for the company.
Takeaway: Testimonials without specific details are not employee stories, even if promoted as such.
What stuck out
Every company is different and unique, but the careers sites we visited usually did not highlight their differentiation points. So, any company that provided unique facts or story elements became instantly memorable.
General Electric’s career site sets itself apart with stories. Their careers blog features several posts by real employees about their individual, specific experiences at the company. One blog post in particular is by a customer service representative and parent who details how her manager offered the flexibility she needed to keep her at the company. This story stuck out in the sea of career site content.
It is exceptional it when career sites show us who they are, and what it means to work there.
How to improve your career site and make it memorable
Employee stories are immersive & trustworthy
A 2018 study by PathMotion and Immersion Neuroscience measured candidates’ immersion levels and physiological data, such as heart rate and oxytocin levels, during the recruitment process. The study found that employee stories are 20 percent more immersive than corporate careers sites. Therefore, science agrees that employee stories have a great effect on candidates. These findings parallel the Edelman Trust Barometer data that states candidates trust company employees three times more than company leadership to provide credible information on what it’s like to work there.
Employee story content is engaging
Most of the career sites we visit only feature text, with no videos or photography. Text that scrolls forever is not engaging, and is difficult to maneuver. If the sites do have photos, usually they’re pictures from the same three stock photography sites everyone uses. We have come to recognize the stock models and photo series … which means candidates can recognize them, too.
Career sites with photos featuring real employees immediately stand out. Visually the sites are more appealing. Also, through featuring real employees, on-site at your company, you immediately gain the career site visitor’s trust.
Interested in examples of Stories Inc.’s work to fuel company career sites with engaging story content? We have many, but we suggest you start by reading our BAE Systems, Inc. case study to learn how we did this on a large scale. You can also check out our Interactions case study, in which we created content for their career site focusing on their culture, as well as sales and tech teams specifically.
Stories are unforgettable
Stories Inc. knows that our brains are wired to remember stories. Although we visit hundreds of career sites, the sites that stay lodged in our memories are few and far between. Real employee stories on your career site via videos, photos, and written content will absolutely set your company apart. Most importantly, employee stories will provide the compelling content to attract talent.