Careers Page Teardowns

Dealertrack

.com

Nice placement – a l ittle tucked away in

the menu, but high up in that menu nonetheless

The Dealertrack careers page, from

outer space

The Dealertrack careers page, from

outer space

Great “bones”

The Dealertrack careers page, from

outer space

Great “bones”

Large, welcoming photo (are they in a lecture?)

The Dealertrack careers page, from

outer space

Great “bones”

Large, welcoming photo (are they in a lecture?)

Color contrasts across the sections make it easier for

the reader to follow

The Dealertrack careers page, from

outer space

Great “bones”

Large, welcoming photo (are they in a lecture?)

Color contrasts across the sections make it easier for

the reader to follow

Let’s dive in…

Would prefer something a l ittle more inspired & “call-to-action”-y…like

“Explore Careers at Dealertrack” or “See What It’s Like to Work at

Dealertrack”

Lots of youngish-looking guys in this photo

Is this demographic representative of the workforce at Dealertrack? I’d venture the

company is a l ittle more diverse

Lots of youngish-looking guys in this photo

If you’re not in a sexy industry and/or not a household name, short explainers on what you do are good

I prefer fewer buzzwords though (what company wouldn’t call its product “intuit ive,” “insightful ,”

“comprehensive,” etc.)

What’s “F&I”? Doesn’t mean anything to someone unfamil iar with the industry

I prefer fewer buzzwords though (what company wouldn’t call its product “intuit ive,” “insightful ,”

“comprehensive,” etc.)

When it comes to explainers,

simple and jargon-free is the way to go

What’s “F&I”? Doesn’t mean anything to someone unfamil iar with the industry

I prefer fewer buzzwords though (what company wouldn’t call its product “intuit ive,” “insightful ,”

“comprehensive,” etc.)

Nice touch with the word “History” – implies you’ve been around long

enough to have one!

Actually digging this description of what Dealertrack does even better than the one above – it’s simpler

Ok – video time!

Hmmm…gentle upbeat background music…

Hmmm…gentle upbeat background music… …and positive, generic

TV voice is narrating…

B-roll (i.e. fil ler) footage of happy people working and doing fun stuff…

B-roll (i.e. fil ler) footage of happy people working and doing fun stuff… …déjà vu...

B-roll (i.e. fil ler) footage of happy people working and doing fun stuff… …déjà vu...

I ’m starting to wonder “can I trust this video?” because it’s

beginning to feel l ike an ad. Let’s see if things change…

Cue obligatory footage of people pointing to

stuff on a whiteboard…

Cue obligatory footage of people pointing to

stuff on a whiteboard… …and people in a meeting room doing stuff

Cue obligatory footage of people pointing to

stuff on a whiteboard… …and people in a meeting room doing stuff

And faraway shot of satisfied worker

Cue obligatory footage of people pointing to

stuff on a whiteboard… …and people in a meeting room doing stuff

And faraway shot of satisfied worker

Ok, yep – kind of an ad

On the plus side, it’s a reasonable length (less than 90 seconds)

Really, the single biggest problem is that you don’t hear from any of the employees themselves

Really, the single biggest problem is that you don’t hear from any of the employees themselves

Given the narrator and all that b-roll, you could l iterally change the narrator’s script and this video could be about any

number of other companies

Really, the single biggest problem is that you don’t hear from any of the employees themselves

Given the narrator and all that b-roll, you could l iterally change the narrator’s script and this video could be about any

number of other companies

That’s a lack of differentiation, and it’s not a good thing when

you’re creating recruiting content

Last point on the video: my secret hope is that companies realize these shiny recruiting videos aren’t nearly as

authentic as content created directly by employees themselves. (It’s as if a video production company somewhere convinced

everyone that advertorials are what candidates want to see. They’re not)

“What DO they want to see,” you ask?

Last point on the video: my secret hope is that companies realize these shiny recruiting videos aren’t nearly as

authentic as content created directly by employees themselves. (It’s as if a video production company somewhere convinced

everyone that advertorials are what candidates want to see. They’re not)

“What DO they want to see,” you ask?

Last point on the video: my secret hope is that companies realize these shiny recruiting videos aren’t nearly as

authentic as content created directly by employees themselves. (It’s as if a video production company somewhere convinced

everyone that advertorials are what candidates want to see. They’re not)

Great question! We’l l cover that in another blog post

Nice subtle placement of the l ink to jobs page for

those who might be curious

Sweet benefits!

However…I’d argue they shouldn’t be the second

meaningful thing on this page

However…I’d argue they shouldn’t be the second

meaningful thing on this page

Benefits aren’t the reason people join you – rather,

they help push people over the edge once they l ike

what the company is about, the work they’d do, etc.

Oooh, looks l ike I can click on the photo…what happens if I do that…

Darn…small window and scroll ing. This doesn’t add much value

Darn…small window and scroll ing. This doesn’t add much value

Ok let’s keep moving down the page…

More visuals, nice. Could use some more natural, employee-generated

pics, but this is a start

More visuals, nice. Could use some more natural, employee-generated

pics, but this is a start

You want candidates to connect with your people…and it’s easier to connect with the people in “real” photos vs the people in “staged” photos

More fancy words (“The offices are built around invention and innovation” doesn’t say much)

Awards?! Let’s see them! Put them front and center, don’t

hide them! (we said this in our last teardown…we sound l ike a

broken record, don’t we?)

More fancy words (“The offices are built around invention and innovation” doesn’t say much)

Serious about wellness, I l ike it!

Nitpick here is that it’s more perks/benefits-related stuff

Nitpick here is that it’s more perks/benefits-related stuff

Stil l don’t have a sense for more “core” aspects of the culture – what current

employees think of Dealertrack, projects people are working on, what keeps people

motivated and sticking with Dealertrack, etc.

More benefits. Again, it’s not that they’re bad…but why would a

candidate care about the benefits if they don’t know much about the company’s unique culture yet?

“Career Development”…sounds cool, let’s explore…

Nicely done – ful l call-to-action for jobs at the bottom of the page

Love this! Curious to see what’s there…let’s check it out

Ok, getting the sense they’re serious about developing people

I l ike this, a lot. It’s stil l kind of shiny and corporate-y in nature, but I give it a pass

because the whole page is diving into a specific topic (learning/development) at the company

I l ike this, a lot. It’s stil l kind of shiny and corporate-y in nature, but I give it a pass

because the whole page is diving into a specific topic (learning/development) at the company

And who doesn’t love specifics?!

More good stuff – again, because it’s a level deeper than the general careers page

For this page I’d suggest turning these little sections (e.g. Learning Opportunities; Continued

Growth) into themes that the employees themselves can talk about in detail

For this page I’d suggest turning these little sections (e.g. Learning Opportunities; Continued

Growth) into themes that the employees themselves can talk about in detail

Could easily come up with a few questions for each section, send to a dozen engaged employees

in a survey, and then voila – you have great recruiting content you can add to this page

For this page I’d suggest turning these little sections (e.g. Learning Opportunities; Continued

Growth) into themes that the employees themselves can talk about in detail

Could easily come up with a few questions for each section, send to a dozen engaged employees

in a survey, and then voila – you have great recruiting content you can add to this page

There’s nothing more authentic for talent than hearing what the people

who work there have to say

Last section to explore

Same structure as the other pages, which is fine (though a

bit repetitive)

Given the similarit ies (and in the interest of wrapping up), let’s focus on just two

specific awesome things on this page…

Awesome Thing #1: active and careers-specif ic social media accounts

I hear all the time from Talent Acquisit ion teams that

Marketing won’t let them put recruiting content on the

company’s main social media accounts (for whatever reason)

Awesome Thing #1: active and careers-specif ic social media accounts

Well, this is the solution!

Awesome Thing #1: active and careers-specif ic social media accounts

I hear all the time from Talent Acquisit ion teams that

Marketing won’t let them put recruiting content on the

company’s main social media accounts (for whatever reason)

Do you see Awesome Thing #2?

Do you see Awesome Thing #2?

Awesome Thing #2: an engineering blog run by

Dealertrack’s engineers!!!!!

Do you see Awesome Thing #2?

Awesome Thing #2: an engineering blog run by

Dealertrack’s engineers!!!!!

The voice of the employee…LOVE it! Way to go Dealertrack!

Do you see Awesome Thing #2?

Awesome Thing #2: an engineering blog run by

Dealertrack’s engineers!!!!!

The voice of the employee…LOVE it! Way to go Dealertrack!

Why is this so great?

Because (broken record time) it’s generated by the employees themselves, AND because it’s genuinely helpful content that

engineers would find useful. Becoming a domain expert, and letting others

know, is always a good thing – smart people want to work with

other smart people

But also…how can you NOT love a nerdy, tongue-in-cheek

post l ike this? “A MongoDB Mystery!” So cool!!

And on that note…decent job overall by Dealertrack. As I

noted, their careers pages have a good structure – but they’d benefit greatly from content

created by employees themselves, on an ongoing basis.

Also, a l ittle heavy on the

perks/benefits stuff, but adding employee-generated content would easily balance that out

But also…how can you NOT love a nerdy, tongue-in-cheek

post l ike this? “A MongoDB Mystery!” So cool!!