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Think about your favorite ecommerce sites. What are the common themes? Seamless. Easy to navigate. Tailored to your journey.
Why should a career site be any different? Why, for so long, have we tolerated career sites that are boring, one-size-fits-all glops of mediocrity? Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. At Paradox, we worked to upgrade one of the most stuck pieces of hiring tech to bring it into the modern era. And in late 2023, we launched what we call Conversational Career Sites.
It's been awesome to see a vision become a reality — one that is increasing conversion and driving positive experiences for millions of candidates worldwide. Now that it’s been just over a year, we wanted to highlight a few of our favorite designs we've created with some of the world's largest employers. Here it is: unstucking in action.
McDonald’s
McDonald’s built their brand on two things: consistency and speed. Enter a restaurant anywhere on the planet, leave with the hamburger you know and love within five minutes. So when we teamed up to design their career site, they wanted to mimic those same principles (their candidates are their customers, after all).
The power of McDonald’s upgrade lies in their native AI assistant, Olivia. Available 24/7 as a widget on the career site, Olivia serves as a one-click application process for candidates. Site visitors can peruse at their leisure, and whenever they’re ready, enter an application through one word: hello.
Consistent and fast. Since launching Olivia, McDonald’s has brought down their time to hire from 21 days to three. And they’re now delivering candidate experiences that parallel their customer experiences.
FedEx
It’s natural for candidates to have questions during the hiring process. But FAQ pages tend to lean on the longer side, with endless rows of answers to questions candidates would never think to ask.
At FedEx, you start at square one: a conversation. And if you have a question, all you have to do is ask. Just text a message to FedEx’s AI assistant Olivia, and your answer will dynamically be delivered right back, often in the form of content like blogs, videos, and even job descriptions.
It’s a true 1:1 experience — you know, like how normal question-answer processes should be.
Nike
Nike is famous for letting online customers tailor shoes’ colorways towards their liking. And that flexibility extends to Nike’s career site’s language — where words need to be perfectly translated from the start, or candidates won’t know how to apply.
Nike’s website automatically translates to one of 14 different languages, depending on where a specific visitor is located. And if that visitor happens to speak something different, their AI assistant is able to detect 100 different languages on the fly and respond. So just like customizing a pair of sneakers, Nike provides a tailored experience towards each candidate’s preferences.
“This platform delivers the innovation and accessibility that define Nike,” said Nike Sr. Director of TA Nick Boyd, via Nike’s official LinkedIn account.
T-Mobile
The best career sites are frictionless, yet specific and personalized. That’s a tight needle to thread, and unfortunately it’s why a lot of traditional sites end up being neither.
T-Mobile, meanwhile, manages to be both — their new site appeals to every demographic without sending their internal servers into overdrive. And it only takes them seven pages. It turns out that when career sites are intuitive, candidates don’t have to put in the work to find what they’re looking for. Just press one button and move onto the next step of the process, whether that be apply or learn more.
Moody’s
Financial services firm Moody’s is seeking hard-to-fill roles: elite engineers, auditors, and analysts. Their career site, in turn, is custom-built to capture and nurture that professional audience.
Typically, this audience wants more information before applying to a role. Without overloading visitors with a deluge of information, Moody’s streamlines job and company details to professional candidates.
And if there isn’t a perfect fit right now, Moody’s site will prompt visitors to join a talent community for ongoing communication and updates. With automated drip campaigns, Moody’s can engage top talent without burdening their recruiters with constant administrative work, keeping a steady stream of pipeline for in-demand roles.
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Plenty more organizations from small franchisors to Fortune 500 businesses have unstuck their career site and seen business impact. You can read some more of their stories below.
