Adding a careers page to a small business website

A careers page is worth adding the moment you are hiring more than once a year. It gives every job post, sign on your truck and word-of-mouth mention one place to send people, and it shows applicants what working for you is actually like. It does not need to be fancy. It needs the open jobs, the honest details people want before they apply, and a way to apply that works on a phone.

Who reads a careers page

Two kinds of people land on it. The first saw a job ad somewhere else and came to check that you are real and decent to work for. The second never saw an ad: a customer's nephew, a tech at a competitor who is fed up, someone who drives past your shop every day. Both want the same thing: enough detail to decide whether to apply, and an easy way to do it.

Many of the people you hire in the trades and in local service jobs will look at your page on a phone during a break. If applying means downloading a PDF, printing it and mailing it back, many of them will not bother.

What to put on the page

A short, honest introduction

Two or three sentences about the business from a worker's point of view. "We are a family-owned HVAC company with eight people, based in Lancaster. We do residential service and installs, mostly within thirty miles. Most of our team has been with us for years, and we would like to keep it that way."

Skip the slogans. "We are a family" means little to an applicant. "Nobody works more than one weekend a month" means a lot.

The open positions

For each job, write:

The job title people would search for: "Service Technician", "Front Desk", "Line Cook", not an internal name.
Full-time, part-time or seasonal, and the usual hours or shifts.
Where the work is: at the shop, at customers' homes, which towns.
What the day looks like, in a few sentences. What they will actually do.
What you need: licenses, a clean driving record, the ability to lift a certain weight, experience. Separate the must-haves from the nice-to-haves so good people do not rule themselves out.
Pay: a range or a starting rate if you can share it. Applicants look for this first. Some states and cities require a pay range in job posts, so check the rules where you hire.
Benefits and perks that are real: paid time off, a company vehicle, tools provided, training paid for, health coverage if you offer it.

Why someone would want to work for you

This is your chance to say what a big employer cannot. Steady year-round work. A truck that goes home with you. Training toward a license. The owner still works in the field. No commission pressure. Be specific and stick to what is true.

Photos of your real team at work

A photo of your crew on a job, or your staff behind the counter, does more than any sentence. If you have a team page, link to it. Team page: introducing the people behind your business has ideas for photos and short bios.

How to apply and what happens next

Spell out the steps: "Fill in the short form below. We read every application and call people we would like to meet within a week. The next step is a half-hour visit to the shop."

Making it easy to apply

A short form on the page is usually the best option. Ask only what you need to decide whether to call someone back:

Name
Phone number and email
Which position
A few lines about their experience, or a place to attach a resume
When they could start

You do not need their whole work history in the first step. A long form scares off the people you most want, the ones who already have a job and are just curious.

If you use a hiring service or a job board that has its own application page, link to it with a clear button. Make sure the link opens the right job, not a generic list.

Wherever the form sends its messages, check that someone reads them. Applications that disappear into an unread inbox are a common and costly problem. Where do website contact form messages go explains how to check.

Keeping it fair and legal

Hiring has rules, and they vary by state. A few things owners commonly do on a careers page:

Describe the job and its requirements, not the kind of person they imagine filling it. Avoid wording about age, gender, family status or national origin.
Mention that you are an equal opportunity employer if that applies to you.
Ask only for information you need at the first step. Do not ask for Social Security numbers, dates of birth or health information on a web form.
If you run background checks or drug tests, say so honestly in the job post.

This is general information, not legal advice. Your attorney or your state's labor department can tell you what applies to you, and sba.gov has plain guides on hiring your first employees.

When the job is filled

Take the post down or mark it filled the same week. An old job ad on your site leads to applications you cannot answer and makes it look like nobody runs the site. If you hire for the same roles every season, you can leave the page up with a line like "We hire seasonal crew every March. Leave your details and we will reach out."

Keep the page in the footer even when you are not hiring. People who want to work for you will look for it.

Where the careers page goes

Most businesses put "Careers" or "Jobs" in the footer, not the main menu. Customers are the main audience of your site, and they do not need a hiring link at the top. When you are actively hiring for several roles, a short line on the home page or a slim banner can help, as long as it does not push your customer contact details down. Website footer: what belongs at the bottom of the page covers what else sits down there.

What to do this week

Write down each role you hire for, with hours, pay range and must-haves.
Write two or three honest sentences about what working for you is like.
Pick one or two real photos of your team.
Decide where applications go and who reads them, then test the form yourself from your phone.
Add a "Careers" link to your footer.

If your current site is hard to add a page to, you can see your site rebuilt first and add the careers page in the editor afterwards.