Having a blog on a career site can change everything for your employer brand.
It was long thought that the purpose of an employer site was to compile information about a company's values (with varying degrees of success) and to post job openings.
Today, it takes on an additional dimension: that of the pivot of the famous brand employer, which, according to LinkedIn, 53% of HR managers consider crucial in their recruitment strategy in 2017.
Or a vibrant employer brand requires good digital visibility (read our free white paper on this topic ), which can be achieved in part by publishing fresh and interesting content on a career site blog.
Things have changed in the last 10 years in the recruiting world.
The rise of type approaches Inbound is driving human resources to focus on the candidate experience to improve the perception of the employer brand.
Talent evaluates potential employers through Google and Glassdoor long before they first speak with a recruiter. So it's critical to get ahead of the curve by providing content as soon as they need it.
The challenge is employer brand managers have often limited budgets and may not know where to invest.
A career blog is therefore a great way to get started in Inbound Recruiting.
" Companies that have a blog receive an average of 97% more leads than companies that do not have a blog " - Neil Patel
To launch a career blog or expand your existing blog, follow these 4 essential steps.
A classic mistake not to make is to write with thinking you know what candidates might be interested in.
This often results in publications only focused on the company. Yet, a career blog that appeals to candidates speaks to them first and foremost about themselves.
For this reason, think about who you're talking to and understand your target audience before you start publishing articles. Without this critical step, you'll spend a lot of time writing, formatting and promoting content that will have little resonance with your readers.
To know what content will appeal to candidates, paint a picture of your ideal candidate based on serious research. Feel free to read our article on this topic!
One of the difficulties with keeping a career blog (and one reason why so few companies keep one) is that as soon as one post is published, you already have to think about the next one. So it's important to keep a publishing schedule to avoid inspiration lapses or oversights.
Publishing one article per week is ideal, but if your company doesn't have marketing support (such as from an agencyspecialized), 2-3 publications per month is sufficient.
Be realistic from the beginning about your abilities, you can always increase your publications later, if you have enough resources.
Your calendar will help you stick to your goals. It will also serve as a guide to the topics you will cover (you will have established the types of topics to cover initially).
If you already have employer brand content, you can also rehash previously discussed topics with a fresh angle.
Even if you have the services of excellent marketers, they are not always the best people to suggest the best topics for your career blog. In some cases, your employees are best suited to create relevant employer brand content.
In fact, candidates trust people on the ground more (66% prefer interactions with employees). No one can give a more accurate and authentic view of the business than your employees!
Coaching from a marketer is always possible to finalize an article and especially to optimize it for the SEO.
Finally, encouraging employee participation ensures a steady stream of publications without teams burning out.
All too often, we forget to promote our career blog. After spending many hours crafting quality articles for candidates, it would be a shame if no one reads your content.
To do this, your blog must be easily found on search engines. Your content also has to be relayed on social networks.
Make sure your collaborators think about sharing the blog content themselves to their respective circles and don't forget to add a section for the reader to subscribe to the newsletter.
Also, depending on the topic, you can also offer your topic in guest blogging (practice of inviting experts to contribute on your blog) on specialized sites.
For example, if you publish a topic on Java development, web development blogs might be interested in distributing your article.
This is sure to generate interest from computer science candidates!
If your career blog can identify and address candidate issues, you've succeeded in your mission!
Ask yourself over and over again, how you can help their search for information and make their lives easier. By creating a quality candidate experience, you will make them enthusiastic employees afterwards.
If you'd like more advice on setting up your career site, tell us!!