Career Site

What a career site needs

• Searchable jobs. By title, location, shift and category, with a filter for remote or hybrid. Each job on its own page with a clean URL so it can be indexed and shared.
• Clear job pages. Pay range, schedule, location, requirements and what the work actually involves. Many states and cities require pay ranges in postings.
• Short application. Mobile-first, no forced account creation, resume optional for hourly roles.
• Employer story. Real employee stories, photos of real workplaces, benefits and how hiring works, with timelines. This is your employer branding in its most direct form.
• Talent community sign-up. For people with no matching job today.
• Accessibility. Meets WCAG guidelines so applicants using screen readers or keyboard navigation can apply, with a clear route to request accommodation.
• Structured data. Job posting markup so search engines and aggregators can show jobs in job search results.

Why the careers page matters for conversion

Most applicants visit the career site even if they found the job elsewhere. It is where they check whether the job, pay and company are credible. If it is slow, confusing or asks for a 40-minute application, many leave.

The key metric is application completion rate: completed applications divided by people who started one. For hourly roles on mobile, short applications often complete at well over 50%, while long multi-page forms with account creation can fall far below that. Every extra required field costs applicants. Ask only what you need to screen; collect the rest after an offer.

Worked example: a restaurant group's career site gets 20,000 job page views a month. 3,000 people start an application and 750 finish, a 25% completion rate. After removing account creation and cutting the form to eight questions, 1,800 finish: more than twice the applicants with the same traffic.

Career page best practices

• Lead with what candidates care about. Pay, schedule, location, training and growth. Mission statements come later.
• Use real people. Stock photos are spotted immediately. Short videos from real employees work better.
• Explain the process. "Apply in 5 minutes, hear back within 24 hours, interview this week" sets expectations and reduces drop-out.
• Localize. For multi-site employers, location pages with local pay and managers' faces convert better than one national page.
• Speak the candidates' languages. If many applicants speak Spanish, offer the site and application in Spanish.
• Make every job shareable. Employees should be able to send a job link to a friend in one tap, which helps referrals.

For a fuller checklist, see these career page best practices.

Metrics to track

• Career site visitors by source (search, social, aggregators, direct).
• Job page view to application start rate.
• Application completion rate.
• Applicants and hires by source, so you can see which traffic actually converts.
• Time on page and exits from job pages, to spot pages that lose interest.
• Mobile versus desktop completion rates.

If you only track one, track completion rate. It is the most direct measure of whether the site is helping or hurting.

Common mistakes

• The ATS bolt-on. Many career sites are a list of links into a separate, clunky application system that looks nothing like the brand and asks for a login.
• No pay information. Candidates skip jobs without pay, and in many jurisdictions it is now a legal requirement.
• Stale jobs. Listings for roles filled months ago damage trust.
• No mobile testing. Most hourly applicants use phones. Test the entire flow on a mid-range phone with a weak connection.
• Ignoring accessibility. Inaccessible application flows exclude candidates and invite ADA complaints.

If you are rebuilding, a dedicated career site builder connected to your applicant tracking keeps jobs current automatically and removes the bolt-on problem.