How to build a career site that actually attracts talent  

For most candidates today, your career site is their first real impression of what it’s like to work at your company.

It’s no longer enough to list open roles and a few generic culture claims. A great career site helps candidates understand your mission, see themselves in your teams, and decide with confidence whether they should apply.  

This article shows you how to build a career site that candidates actually want to spend time on – and that your hiring team can use as a reliable engine for attracting talent.  

Why your career site matters more than ever  

A career site is one of the channels companies own entirely. While job boards and social media are crowded and constantly changing, your own site lets you control the first impression, structure, and candidate experience.  

Done well, it becomes:  

• A source of qualified, well‑informed applicants  

• A reference point candidates use throughout the process  

• A living record of how you work, grow, and treat people  

Done poorly, it sends confusing messages, raises doubts, or simply feels like an afterthought. The good news is that impactful improvements do not require a complete rebuild. They start with clarity and consistency.

Start with a clear message to candidates  

At the heart of a strong career site is a simple idea: candidates should quickly understand why someone would choose to work with your company instead of anywhere else.  

Begin by defining a short promise to candidates in plain language. In one or two sentences, explain:  

– What your company does  

– Who typically thrives there  

– What people gain by joining (impact, growth, flexibility, purpose, or a mix of these)  

This promise should appear prominently at the top of your career home page, not buried halfway down. If someone who has never heard of your company name can read the first section and say, “I understand who they are and why I might be interested,” you are on the right track.  

Show your company culture

Once your message is clear, your next task is to show what life inside the company actually looks like. Candidates want to understand how work gets done, how teams collaborate, and how decisions are made.  

Focus on specifics:  

• How you communicate (e.g.: daily check‑ins, standups, written updates, async collaboration)  
• How performance and growth are handled (e.g.: feedback cycles, mentoring, etc.)  
• How teams share knowledge and learn from mistakes  

Short, concrete examples are more persuasive than long claims about “great culture”. Describing how a team runs weekly demos, or how new joiners are supported in their first 90 days, is far more useful to a candidate than saying you are “like a family”.  

Make it effortless to find relevant roles

Many candidates arrive at a career site already interested. They know their profession and have a rough idea of the kind of role they want. If they cannot find relevant opportunities in a few clicks, they simply leave.  

That’s why you should aim to make job discovery as straightforward as possible:  

• Group roles by team and location  

• Clearly label whether roles are remote, hybrid, or onsite  

• Use job titles that a candidate might actually search for, not internal code names  

• Keep URLs readable so that links can be shared easily

A simple filter or search can already make a noticeable difference. Think of the structure like a well-organised store: sections and labels help people quickly reach what they came for.  

Build a career page that actually converts. Try the JOIN Career Page Builder or our Job Widget and turn your open roles into a steady stream of qualified candidates.

Write job descriptions people trust

Most candidates decide whether to apply based almost entirely on the job description. This is where your career site either builds trust or loses it.  

A good job description is clear, structured, and honest. A helpful pattern is:  

• About the role: a short overview of why the role exists and what it is responsible for  

• What you’ll do: a concrete description of the work, focusing on outcomes rather than vague tasks  

• What you’ll bring: skills and experience that genuinely matter for success in the role  

• What you’ll get: benefits, learning opportunities, and any flexibility you offer  
• How the process works: the main steps in your hiring process and what candidates can expect  

Avoid long lists of “nice‑to‑have” requirements, and steer clear of buzzwords that do not communicate anything meaningful. Candidates read many job descriptions; they can tell when a company has thought carefully about what the job involves and when it has not.  

Show real people at work

Candidates rarely feel connected to a career site that looks like it could belong to any company. The easiest way to make your page feel human is to show the people who work there. 

Simple photos, ideally with a line of context underneath, already help visitors imagine themselves in that environment. For key teams, a brief “day in the life” description or video can make a strong difference in how tangible the work feels.  

Be transparent about benefits, pay structure, and flexibility

Uncertainty around pay (pay transparency), benefits, and working conditions is one of the main reasons candidates hesitate to apply. Your career site is an ideal place to address these concerns clearly and calmly.  

Useful topics to cover include:  

• How you generally approach compensation (for example, ranges by level or location, how reviews are handled)  

• Core benefits such as time off, health coverage, learning budgets, or equipment support  

• How your work model functions in reality: meeting hours, time zones, expectations for being in the office, and how remote collaboration is supported  

You do not have to publish every detail, but the more open and concrete you can be, the easier it is for candidates to self‑select in or out before anyone’s time is wasted.  

Keep the application flow short and respectful  

Even a beautifully written job description will not lead to many hires if your application process is frustrating. Long forms, repeated questions, and poor mobile experiences quietly drive the best candidates away.  

Start by looking at your application form from a candidate’s perspective. Ask yourself:  

• Which questions do we genuinely need at this stage?  

• Is anything being asked twice in different wording?  

• Can a candidate complete this on a phone without zooming and scrolling endlessly?  

In many cases, basics such as a CV or LinkedIn profile and a small number of targeted questions are enough to decide whether to move someone forward. Later stages in your process can gather more detail where it truly matters.  

Assess candidates through assessments and fair hiring scorecards during interviews, rather than making the application process unbearably long.

Explain your hiring process openly  

Uncertainty is a major source of stress for candidates. A clear outline of your hiring process turns your career site into a reliable guide whilst also saving you time of repeatedly having to answer candidate queries about the recruitment process. 

A simple “How we hire” section can already answer most questions:  

– How many stages you usually run and what they involve  

– Whether candidates will meet peers as well as managers

– Rough timeframes between stages

– Any assessments or case studies they should expect  

Being upfront about these aspects shows respect for candidates’ time and allows them to prepare properly. It can also reduce last‑minute withdrawals and misaligned expectations.  

Treat your career site like a product

Once the basics are in place, your career site becomes something you can continuously improve rather than a static page to forget about. The way to do this is to measure, improve and measure again.  

Final takeaway  

A career site that attracts talent explains who you are, what work looks like, and how people can grow with you. It respects candidates’ time, answers their real questions, and makes it easy to move from curiosity to application.  

When you approach your career site as an ongoing conversation with future colleagues, rather than a one‑off project, you create a space that helps the right people find you, understand you, and choose to join your team.