By Joao Araujo

In today’s digital society not having a careers website is unthinkable! The internet has become the first place where people will search for information and candidates follow suit. But since every company has such a section on their website, how to differentiate from your competitors, how do you know which information candidates are seeking and which websites are very popular among students?

First, are websites really the preferred channel used by university students to learn about potential employers? Universum asked around 20 000 students in 21 different countries and the answer is that websites are the #1 channel used to learn about employers in 12 different countries, the #2 channel in other 7 and only in China it comes in the 4th position. Careers fairs, employer presentations on campus, advertisements in business magazines and professional networks/communities are other channels that in different countries take the top spot.

Now that we know websites matter, how to differentiate? When searching online for new employers there are a couple of data points students want to find, namely facts and figures about the employer and interviews/profiles with employees. Numbers are numbers, so here there might not be too much to differentiate (unless you’re the market leader or have a significant advantage in comparison with your recruitment competitors); but with the interviews/profiles with employees you can really make a difference. This is a unique opportunity to communicate your company culture and show who you really are as an employer. Storytelling is a fantastic way to differentiate positively!

And what else are students looking for in your careers website? The same Universum research project has revealed that expectations really vary across countries. As an example, while Brazilian students are looking for career development opportunities, French students main concern is current job openings and Finnish students want to see job descriptions and requirements. Here the only solution is to really dig deeper into the mind of students and understand what they want to see.

As a first deep-dive, here’s some inside information on what they said about some popular websites:

Goldman Sachs:
- “A very clear and easily navigated website invited to further research about the company, which ultimately raised curiosity about how a career with the company would be“
- “Very detailed, nice web pages, with helpful information guiding the applications and interviews”
- “At first, I was just browsing through their website about their mission and so forth until suddenly, there was a self-assessment quiz on where would you stand if you worked for Goldman Sachs. I got really interested and I hope that maybe one day I can work for this firm.”
- “I was looking for an internship and decided to look at the company’s sight in order to get a better idea of them as a company. I saw some of their past projects, their history and the opportunity for me to grow in my field with them.”

Deloitte:
- “Deloitte’s website was very user friendly. It was easy to seek for the information links that I was interested in. Also, there was detailed information regarding the requirements and eligibility for interns. I found that very helpful because it gave me a good understanding of what the internship entails and whether I was a good candidate for it or not.”
- “The website was very professional and it made me very interested in pursuing a career with the company”

Accenture:
- “Clear structure, easy to find jobs, and information about the company, many features to keep updated about the company”
- “They have a very good video that gives an idea of what they do and how it is to work there”
- “…Listed the degrees that they were looking for – very good.”

Curious to know more?
Information is available for 20 countries (Austria, Brazil, China, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and US). Just email me at jfa@universum.se to know more.