Make a good first impression: your corporate career web site can become one of your most effective recruiting tools

HR Magazine, April, 2004 by Martha Frase-Blunt

Beyond the Brochure

Many visitors to corporate career sites are not looking at job listings, but have already pinpointed an opportunity and are sleuthing for information about whether the company is a good fit.

For instance, Barton Crist, a senior at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, is on the hunt for a financial or consulting opportunity, preferably in the high-tech sector. "I've been getting plenty of interviews through our college career center and meeting with employers who visit, but I always make a point of surfing the company's career site before meeting with them." Crist says he especially enjoys reading testimonials from employees "to understand their impressions of the company."

The "sales brochure" aspect of the corporate recruiting site can't be over-looked, but a lot of companies make the mistake of putting a high-gloss finish on their story, when candidness might better serve them. "If working 50 or 60 hours a week is part of the culture, people need to know this," says Pollock. "HR can save themselves and applicants a lot of time and trouble by being honest."

Corning made its site more straight-forward with an overhaul four years ago. "We took our time and crafted a market research approach--our product being employment opportunities at Corning," says Kennerson. She and her team conducted focus groups among recently hired staff, especially those who had relocated to Corning's somewhat remote upstate New York headquarters. "We sliced and diced the focus groups to reflect where we felt our hottest jobs would be over the next two years, then we talked to them about what they found most helpful in their decision about joining us. What surprised them? Did their expectations meet reality?"

The findings showed Kennerson that many candidates are energized by the opportunity to work in an advanced technology environment, "so in going after the hot talent, we focused on our history of innovation; a lot of the first screens they see talk about exciting technology," she says.

But that wasn't enough. "Candidates really needed more information to make an educated decision to relocate to our little town." The company added a prominent sub-section called "A Place To Live, Work and Play: Corning, New York," which serves up information about the cities, towns, villages and boroughs in the area, including information on housing, taxes, schools, elder care programs, child care facilities, professional support services, and social, cultural and recreational activities.

"We feel that this information will help weed out those who might not be retained, or would not have seen through the application process," Kennerson says, noting that this section is the third most-visited on the site.

Don't Be Undone By Technology

As Roseman pointed out, navigation is a stumbling block for many corporate sites. "Those that do a good job make information not only easy to find, but [also] easy to find your way back to," says Pollock. "Candidates will go to a site from three to more than a dozen times as they go through the application and review process, so they need intuitive pathways."