Is Your Website Driving Potential Truckstop Employees Away?

When we’re ordering a product or checking out a new hot spot, if the website isn’t up to par, we’re most likely going to bail. It’s not rocket science: Let us down in the first few quick clicks around a URL and it’ll be nearly impossible to win us back.

The same goes for employees exploring new companies and opportunities. If your website lacks information, appeal, personality, and purpose, what do you think he or she will assume about the career paths there?

Step back from your own website for a moment and let’s assess if it’s actually one that’s applicant-friendly, or if it’s doing your hiring efforts more harm than good.

Here’s what you really need to attract top-notch employees to help your business grow:

An “Unfluffy” About Us page
Noted by many as the most important page on your website, if your About Us section is stuffed with jargon (“We’ve moved the needle thanks to our core competencies…”), you may want to try again. Instead, present the history of your company – what inspired its origins, what propels it in the present, and what will drive it into the future.

Share information about the company’s ideals, deliver a transparent look at its products and/or services, and define and showcase its competitive advantages. If any of the sentences therein are not honest and informative, cut ’em!

Eye Candy
That doesn’t mean you showcase only your most attractive employees in your site’s photo galleries, but it does mean that you get photo-happy. Slideshows of a “Day in the Life” are unique ways to highlight the hard work of your current team, as are montages that display a climate of “work hard, play hard.”

When it comes to scoring some “I want to work there” points with potential employees, there’s no quicker way than through captivating, colorful, real-life views of the team in action, from all-hands-on-deck brainstorming sessions and staff picnic snaps to office birthday celebrations, candid water-cooler vignettes, Bring Your Dog to Work Day-type memories, and more.

Exciting & Meaningful Job Postings
It’s no secret that writing job descriptions is often the most dreaded job in HR. It’s time to shake things up, especially if your job postings haven’t changed in years.

While “boilerplate” copy about your company – its brand messaging, goals, and purpose – may not be something you can edit without approval, the copy about duties for open positions can and should be updated regularly to reflect a real-time, this-is-what-you’ll-be-responsible-for flair. Craft job postings in a meaningful manner with input from those currently working in the same position or department, not only from the manager.

Bells & Whistles 
If you can choose one or two “bells and whistles”-type goodies for the Careers section of your company’s site, make it either video or infographics, say experts. The more inspiring, the better – for videos, that means honest, compelling interviews with employees who have the best stories that’ll resonate with the level of talent you’re seeking. For infographics that’ll win, be sure to compile and share intel and insight that sets your workplace apart from others, be it by demonstrating your products’ prowess, your team’s expertise, or your employees’ star qualities.

In this day and age, though we’re all told not to “judge a book by its cover,” we most likely will – anddo – judge a company by its website. Make sure yours anticipates that, especially as you gear up to grow your team.