This is an article intended for recruiters / owners / HR departments within the trucking industry.
In this post, I'll go over what a career site is, as well as why trucking companies need one. I'll break down the soft and hard benefits of a career site, as well as briefly cover the ever important role of company culture and values when recruiting.
What a career site is
A career site is the hub where job seekers apply to your open positions.
It’s a space separated from your main website, and entirely dedicated to speaking directly to your candidates.
Why is speaking directly to your candidates important?
Well, many trucking companies don’t make the distinction or the effort on their websites to target the drivers directly, and that’s a mistake.
When I say they don't target the driver directly, I mean that carriers often overlook the elements that drivers really care about. Sure, all drivers care about home time and money... but there's a reason the turn-over rate is as high as it is in this industry.
The benefits of a career site
Having a career site is a modern way to show drivers what you do, what sets you apart, and why you’re worth working for over your competition.
It’s about reducing turnover, growing your team, hiring efficiently, and more.
Yep. In the right hands, a career site is vital to hiring better than your competition.
This means placing you in a position where you can hire and retain your drivers, regardless of whether there's a driver shortage or not.
Let me back up that big claim. But first, a question:
What do you think separates a carrier that hires well and retains vs. a company that doesn't?
You can probably think of a few things that matter, and if you've interacted with drivers you'll know that above and beyond money and home-time, they value the following:
- Being treated with respect
- Having their needs taken care of
- Not being lied to
- Being part of a good crew
- The carrier honoring their end of the deal
So, retaining drivers really comes down to a blend of good, honest leadership with a sensitive element caring for the human needs of each person you hire. Tough ask for a tough industry, but remember these wise words from a company that nails its company culture: "Without a heart, it's just a machine."
The career site is just one of the many channels that can allow you to promote your company culture, and show drivers you care.
This podcast with trucking corporate consultant John Waid covers the multitude of benefits that company culture can bring to carriers across the country.
It’s also about setting yourself apart.
Truck drivers are bombarded by job postings and work opportunities more than any other professionals, and most carriers do nothing to set themselves apart from their competitors.
Drivers always see the same values, the same benefits, and the same jobs with minor variations being advertised.
“So what?” - That’s what the driver’s thinking, anyway. They sit in their truck and tap away at the job postings on indeed, without caring or knowing who or what they’re applying to.
Those are the applicants that are hardest to convert, because they will always be looking for better opportunities. You might feel like you have them interested, but before you know it, they're dodging your calls because they got seduced by another recruiter promising them the world.
Truckers that know a bit about your company, on the other hand… they’re a different beast altogether.
Those are the drivers that are much more likely to come work for you and stick around.
All it takes is for them to recognize your name, and something small about your company, and they’ll be hooked.
How a career site can help
Okay so, all you need is a career site and you’re on easy street, right? Drivers will come flocking from all corners of the continent just for the privilege to work with you... right?
Not so fast. You have to make your new career site effective! Let's get into what you need to do to achieve the following goals:
Grow your team
The primary purpose of a career site is to help you grow your team.
Think about your end goal. You probably want to achieve a steady growth well into the future, hand in hand with drivers that stick around for a long time.
To do that, you need to be cleverer than your competitors.
In order to efficiently grow your team, you need to demonstrate your value to your future employees. If you want to recruit at a steady pace, you need to hire people that see you as more than just another job that they blindly applied to.
In order to grow your team with the aid of a career site you need to think of the following:
- Your culture
- What you offer the driver
- What sets you apart
- How you treat your staff
Of course, a big part of recruiting well is adapting your entire culture to help get you to your end goal.
Show off your culture
When crafting your company culture, it's key to keep in mind a few core principles to make your job easier.
- Stick to the power of three.
You don't need more than three core values to sum up who you are. Anything else is just making it harder on yourself. Identify three things that set you apart, and focus on those. Let the driver know all about those values on your career site.
- Educate your new employees on your values
One simple way to abide by your values is to incorporate them into your training. Find a way to bring your culture to the forefront, and use it to build team spirit as early as orientation.
- Abide by your culture.
Your words mean little until they're put into action. If certain employees don't uphold your values, make sure they know how they can improve and work in accordance with your values.
- Inspire your employees
Purpose-filled work means more to most drivers than their weekly paycheck (assuming you already pay a good wage, of course). Work that is purpose-oriented is more likely to yield better performance.
Optimize your recruitment process
Besides the ways a career site can encourage growth and productivity, it's been proven to optimize recruitment processes in tangible ways. Here's how:
- Keep your job postings in one place
- Provide candidates with more details about the jobs they apply to
- Make applying easy
- With YouCruit, all applications will be screened and pre-qualified
- Spend no time contacting unqualified drivers
Hire cheaper
Let's get into the hard numbers. Having a career site will make hiring drivers cheaper. In other industries, career sites have decreased cost of hire by up to 70%
How is this possible? Well, by providing a hub where candidates can find out about you, they're more likely to apply! A good career site drives the rate that job-seekers convert into applicants, meaning your cost per ad is significantly decreased.
As I mentioned earlier, the people applying through your site are more likely to convert your hires. This is because they become invested in your brand and find out relevant info about the job they applied to.
Hire faster
Getting a job out to your career site can be done in a matter of seconds. A career site application removes any middle-men and allows you to reach the driver right away. Since they're pre-qualified based on your hiring requirements, you don't need to waste time disqualifying drivers that don't make the cut.
Build up your database
By receiving applications through your career site, you gain the ability to store CVs and resumes for a later date, even if you're currently done hiring. By having a priority list of screened candidates, you can always have quality drivers on speed dial in case you need to quickly fill a seat.
With our career site and applicant tracking system, you'll be able to recruit in a way that's more efficient than any competitor. Find out more here.
Mobile optimization
With a YouCruit career site, you can be sure that your job postings and your site are fully mobile optimized.
96% of truckers apply through their phones, and that's a pool of candidates that you do not want to miss out on.
Social media integration
Jobs posted through your YouCruit career site can easily be spread to your social media channels, and will be automatically optimized by the system. This allows you to reach drivers closer to your network with no extra effort on your part.
To conclude
I hope you got something valuable out of this post, and can see the value in obtaining a career site and integrating it into your existing site.
If you don't have a site, or haven't invested much time into it, you can quickly and easily set up a career site here and use it as your main homepage.
At the very least, I hope you hold onto the idea that recruitment success and how well you operate as a business is in your hands. There are always ways to outclass your competitors, and the time to do so is now. Hiring drivers is highly competitive already, but it's early enough that most carriers simply do not go the extra mile to win. Now's your chance.