The careers page: what one people actually apply through contains
Echipa HR 365 · reviewed 2026-09-04 · 5 min read
A careers page has one purpose: to help the right people decide to apply and the rest not to. Everything that serves neither is decoration — including, and especially, the team photos and the sentence about a dynamic environment.
The order in which it is actually read
A candidate arrives on a careers page with one question: is there anything here for me? If the answer is not visible within seconds, the rest of the page does not matter, however well written.
Which is why open roles sit at the top, not the bottom. The company story gets read after they have found a role that interests them — so below the list, not above it.
The seven elements
| Element | Why it matters | The frequent mistake |
|---|---|---|
| The list of open roles, at the top | It is the only reason they came | It sits below three screens of story |
| Location and schedule, on each role | They decide whether to apply, before anything else | It says only “London”, with no mention of hybrid or shifts |
| What the role does, in four lines | It lets them rule themselves out correctly | A list of ten generic duties |
| What the process looks like and how long it takes | It reduces anxiety and drop-out between stages | Missing entirely |
| Who the team is | A role is also a group of people | A group photo with no names and no roles |
| What you offer, concretely | It differentiates; “an attractive package” does not | Benefits phrased the way everybody phrases them |
| How to apply, in one step | Every extra step loses candidates | A 15-field form with a mandatory account |
The application form
Every extra field costs candidates, and the cost is not proportional: fields that require real effort — a cover letter, long open questions, creating an account — cost far more than simple ones.
- Name, contact, CV. Those three are enough for most roles.
- At most two screening questions, and only if the answer genuinely rules somebody out.
- No mandatory account. A candidate who has to create an account in order to apply thinks twice, and the good ones have other options.
- An immediate confirmation, with what comes next and when. It is the cheapest message in the whole process and the most often forgotten.
The rule for screening questions is the same as for a phone screen: if no possible answer would make you reject the application, the question does not belong in the form. Curiosity gets satisfied at interview.
What drives good candidates away
- Adverts with no date, looking a year old. A post that seems abandoned gets no applications.
- No salary where the market publishes it. It is not mandatory everywhere, but its absence is read as a signal.
- Impossible requirements, assembled from several roles. They signal that you do not know what you are looking for.
- Language that says nothing: “dynamic environment”, “young team”, “interesting challenges”. They are on every careers page in the country, so they communicate nothing.
- No information about what happened to previous applications. A candidate who applied a year ago and got no reply does not apply again.
What you do when you have no open roles
The page stays useful, if it tells the truth: we have no openings right now, here are the roles we usually hire for, leave us your details and we will let you know. It is better than an empty page and far better than one with roles closed eight months ago.
What you measure on a careers page
A careers page can only be improved if you know where you lose people. Three figures are enough, and they come without anything complicated:
| Measure | How you read it | What you do if it is poor |
|---|---|---|
| Visitors to the page | Where they come from: your own site, platforms, social | The problem is distribution, not the page |
| Open rate on a role | How many visitors open an advert | The role titles or the location are not clear from the list |
| Application rate from an advert | How many of those who read the advert apply | The advert discourages: requirements, form, or missing information |
The third is the most useful. A very low application rate on a role for which candidates do exist in the market is almost always one of three causes: too long a requirements list, too heavy a form, or no information at all about schedule and location.
On a phone, not on a desktop
Most candidates open the page first on a phone, often in the evening. A form that requires uploading a CV from a laptop loses exactly that moment. The version that works: apply with contact details now and send the CV by email later, if they do not have it to hand.
Where to start
Open your page on a phone and count how many screens you scroll before the first open role. If it is more than one, move the list to the top — it is the cheapest improvement available.
Then add the three lines about the process and the response deadline. They need nobody’s approval and visibly reduce drop-out between stages.
Finally check the form: every field that does not change a selection decision comes out. Usually three remain.
Do I publish the salary on the careers page?
The criterion is what everyone else in your market does for that role. If most publish, the absence of a range loses candidates before first contact; if nobody publishes, publishing becomes a visible advantage. What never works is a range so wide it means nothing.
What do I do with speculative applications?
You accept them, if you can reply. A speculative application route with no reply is worse than none — it creates an expectation you do not honour, and the cost lands at the next recruitment.
A public careers page, with applications straight into the pipeline
Published roles appear on a page carrying your brand, and the candidate applies in one step — the CV enters the pipeline and the confirmation goes out automatically.
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