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Careers sites are underrated. Most careers sites use stock photos and long-winded text paragraphs, making it hard for candidates to focus on their page. However, companies can utilize their career sites as the best place to differentiate themselves from the crowd with quality content. 

Considering it’s one of the first places your candidates will visit on their journey with you, leaving a lasting impression is one of the most important ways to make that first connection with your candidates. A career site full of stock images and jargon isn’t one that will keep your candidates around for long, and is that really how you want to portray your company culture, anyway? 

Some of The 5 Best Career Sites:

We’re breaking down why Capital One, BAE Systems, Booz Allen Hamilton, Ford Motor Company, and Chevron are some of our favorite careers sites and why you should take some tips from them when it comes to updating your own career site. 

Capital One

Capital One really emphasizes #LifeAtCapitalOne. The company features social media posts with #LifeAtCapitalOne on its careers site home page. The incorporation of social networks not only promotes their social media platforms but also provides a window into what the work-life is like within the company.

The best part of their careers site is the “Associate Stories” section. This section provides more of a testimonial than a story, but their use of no stock photos is brilliant. Each associate has pictures of artifacts that they have around their office.

For example, Claudia has a picture of a chocolate bar because she believes it “cures everything.”

Min loves his “No Account Left Behind” mug that he received in 2006 because it reminds him to keep challenging himself. Their use of no stock photos allows the site to be more personalized.

BAE Systems

Stories Inc. might be partial to BAE because we created story-based content for them, but the layout of their careers site and how they utilized the content makes their site one of our favorites. Similar to Capital One, BAE Systems does not use any stock photos. These high-quality, professional photos of their employees create a bright and modern mood for the careers page.

On the home page, a video with real employee stories captures a candidate’s attention. Candidates who are looking for opportunity and growth will learn immediately that BAE Systems is a place for them because after watching that video, they learn that Chris pitched an idea to go to Japan for a week to visit the best practices at 5 or 6 factories and his managers invested in him and agreed with his idea.

Videos with real employee stories that are complemented by music are on almost every page on the careers site. BAE has a story-based video for each section within the company. In the Platforms & Services section, candidates know that they will never be bored because they’ll watch Adrienne’s story about how she developed a transparent armored gun shields and consulted with soldiers to perfect the product.

BAE Systems’ careers site has limited text and a lot of videos which makes it easy for the restless candidate who just wants to know what the company is about.

Booz Allen Hamilton

Booz Allen Hamilton also features high-quality videos with real employee stories on its careers site. They have several videos about their diversity and inclusion initiatives, that span from hiring women to supporting military personnel. 

Booz Allen features their Women in Stem initiatives prominently throughout their career sites and their video about the programs is not only motivating but also allows candidates to see their involvement with mentoring young girls in STEM and how they’re addressing any potential talent gaps for future candidates. 

Booz Allen also showcases how they support their employees that are also military personnel. Check out Matt’s story below:

In the video, candidates learn that in 2013, Matt was deployed, but Booz Allen gave him and his family peace of mind because he continued to receive his benefits while he was deployed. His story shows the company’s supportive culture which is important for candidates who want a caring and supportive workplace culture or who may be members of the military looking for a new role or support during deployment. 

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company’s careers site follows a similar pattern as the previous ones with #nostockphotos and high-quality videos with employee stories. The employee profile videos look like an introduction to a cinematic masterpiece.

Anthony Cooperider has been with the company for 30 years and has seen his ideas on a scratch piece of paper come to life. His story allows potential candidates to envision what a lifetime career at Ford would look like and how their work would be valued. 

Ford also makes an effort to showcase their interns and younger employees as well like Victoria Schein. Victoria Schein’s experience in the rotational program is helping her to build skills to achieve her goal of being the first female CEO at Ford. She tells her story about not having a driver’s license which gives her a unique perspective of a passenger for the company. At 24, she’s already filed 27 patents while working on research for Ford’s mobility and connectivity. Her story is one that showcases Ford’s culture of nurturing young talent and support them in their professional endeavors. 

Chevron

Like Ford Motor Company, Chevron uses real employee stories to capture the candidate’s attention. The Engineering the Extraordinary video series show that their employees are passionate about the work they do and gives a glimpse into the lives and personalities of their employees.

Jessica, Earth Scientist, loves to be an adult who still gets to play in the sandbox.

After 6 months of joining the company, Juan, Structural Engineer, talks about his experience leading a team to execute a successful project.

Real employees make for the best career sites:

And real employee stories, can help make for a more prepared candidate. All of these careers sites used real photos of their employees and teams to provide a window into what the company actually looks like, and what it’s like to work there.

The use of real employee experiences and stories allow the candidate to picture themselves working for the company. These careers sites are great examples of how to provide substantial content to attract candidates, and convey culture and brand.