Careers pages are intended to convert visitors (curious potential candidates) into applicants. Either now or in the future.
Conversions happen through providing a site that’s simple to use and gives the information that’s most relevant to potential applicants. But given that there’s so much that can go into a careers page, where do you start?
The Alfies is about examining, critiquing, and learning from the best careers pages in the region so that we can all work towards improving their effectiveness.
Every month we take a look at three careers pages or sites and critique them against crowdsourced criteria from the industry.
This month’s winner is Alcidion.
Let’s look at why.
The first criteria Group is centred around the organisation
Not every visitor to your page knows of the history of your business, it’s story, why it exists. In highly competitive markets, a story that resonates can hook people into your brand. Humans thrive on stories, it’s how we make sense of the world around us. Alcidion does a great job of telling the stories of what it is that Alcidion does. The sense of growth and opportunity is clearly communicated by Alcidion, CEO, Kate Quirke in her video. Vision and values are front and centre on the site.
Alcidion’s interest in equality and diversity is clearly communicated through their involvement in International Women’s Day. There are some great comments from staff about what the theme of “Each for Equal” means for them. Comments from the judges were that the site provides concise information, especially around the “Why” work for Alcidion, and that it treats candidates as customers. Kate Quirke, the Alcidion CEO, scored a 100% approval rating on Glassdoor.
The second criteria focuses on the Employer Brand
People want to understand what your business stands for and what they can expect if they worked there. Across the board, we loved the use of real people and not stock images. The video content is great and shows the human side of the business.
All the judges agreed that there was real congruence between the consumer and employer brands. Why’s this important? Because it shows authenticity. No one likes lip service being paid to real-life issues.
As mentioned, Alcidion’s values are clearly defined and articulated. The introduction video by the CEO provides great insights into what the business does and how they add value to their customers, both medical professionals and their patients.
The third criteria digs into the EVP
Employer Branding is great and pretty much all businesses have one whether they know it or not. But how does it translate into something real for people who have real aspirations, needs and ambitions?
This is an area where there is an opportunity for Alcidion to improve. There are some profiles on individual staff that are very effective and some information on how they are creating a sense of fun for people undertaking remote work.. However, providing some specific information on the benefits available to staff would round out the overall EVP of the business.
An overall approval rating on Glassdoor of 4.6/ 5.0 would indicate a positive EVP. It would be good to communicate this data through the Careers Page.
The fourth and final criteria looks at usability
Optimising usability and reducing friction points makes the actual conversion of visitors to applicants smoother. It should allow visitors to effortlessly find and interact with the information they need.
The job search function on the Alcidion site is simple and easy to use. Available positions are clearly listed. There isn’t an ability to search by location or role type. But given the volume of roles on offer, this doesn’t detract from the job search functionality. The optimised version is clean and easy to use.
There is a general applications job or email that allows candidates who’ve felt a connection to the brand but not found a suitable role to register for future opportunities. An area of opportunity would be to provide information about the hiring process. This would help applicants understand what to expect when they apply for a role at Alcidion.
In conclusion
Alcidion has produced a very effective Careers Site. There is a good narrative about what the company stands for and it’s values. Judges’ comments were that the site is “clean, fresh and vibrant”. It is well laid out and easy to navigate. There are links to other sections of their website that provide additional information that candidates may be interested in. The way that the information is structured encourages you to explore the site a bit more.
The look and feel are contemporary without coming across as trying hard to be cool. Navigation is straightforward and the uncluttered page makes it easy to find the essential details.
There is an opportunity to build out the business’s EVP by providing more information on staff benefits and to improve the overall candidate experience by providing details on the recruitment process at Alcidion.
But, overall it is an effective careers page that would engage candidates and motivate them to consider Alcidion as a career destination.
Great work team Alcidion! You are the September winners of the Alfie.
