(-> To the German version)
How zeb consulting experiments with the homepage, job search, and job listings: Interview with Alina Schwarz and Mariela Jansen
Maybe not everyone has heard of zeb consulting yet. But for several years now, this employer has been relentlessly climbing the German Potentialpark rankings, most recently into the Top 10. And that as a consulting firm with "only" about 1100 employees.
To me, their career page and job search are among the most creative worldwide: They are full of UX ideas that I haven't seen anywhere else. It's high time to ask them myself:
How do they come up with their ideas, how do they test them, which providers do they work with, and what are the results? I'll be discussing this today with Alina and Mariela.
Alina Schwarz and Mariela Jansen, Employer Brand Managers at zeb consulting
Julian: Dear Alina, dear Mariela, greetings to Münster! Could you please introduce yourselves briefly?
Mariela: My name is Mariela, I am 29 years old and have been part of the Talent Attraction team at zeb consulting since 2020. Currently, I am responsible for Employer Branding in our company and ensure the strategic positioning of zeb as an attractive employer.
Alina: And my name is Alina. I joined zeb in 2021 after completing my master's degree. There, I am part of the Employer Branding team and responsible for all marketing activities targeted at women. In addition, I take care of the further development of the career page, provide editorial input, and assess the performance as the Analytics lead.
Julian: First of all: Why do you put so much "brainpower" into your career page, the jobs, and the ATS (Applicant Tracking System)?
Note: Some of the features we discuss here are only visible on the German version of the website.
Mariela: As a company, we have been part of the Potentialpark studies for several years. Time and again, our career page is cited by participating talents as the most credible source of information regarding career and job-related content.
Accordingly, as an employer, we have made it our task to provide visitors with a targeted information base. However, a purely informative career page alone is not enough to attract the desired talents.
That is why our career page has become a central hub for all our marketing efforts. Our goal is to further strengthen the interest of potential candidates and increase the conversion rate.
A compelling candidate journey has become indispensable. In addition to the content on the career page, this includes attractive job offers, technically flawless functionality, and a straightforward application process with the help of a suitable ATS.
Our career page has now become the most important tool within our talent attraction strategy.
Julian: Let's talk about your contact bot, "ZEBra". There are now many chatbots on career pages. Yours stands out alone because of the icon. What is the idea behind your bot, and what purpose does it serve?
Mariela: Our contact bot, introduced as zeb.RA (zeb.Recruiting Assistant), serves on our career page as a quick and uncomplicated guide for users. Over the years, we have continuously placed relevant content on the career page.
Through targeted questions, zeb.RA guides users directly to the information and contact options that are relevant and desired by them.
Julian: Did you develop the bot yourselves or with a provider? What are your lessons learned from the development? And do you plan to enhance the bot with AI?
Mariela: We have been working closely with the provider Loyjoy for about three years now.
It all started with a bot in our intranet that surveys employee satisfaction quarterly. Based on this, we further developed the application for our career page. With the help of two consulting colleagues who had already implemented the bot in the intranet, we were able to identify relevant uses.
After collecting all the necessary information for setting up another bot, we immediately met with the agency KopfKunst, which technically supports our career page, to discuss the integration. The agency handled this smoothly.
After the technical prerequisites, we focused on content design. We based this on existing FAQs so the bot could later provide the content that our users regularly inquire about.
With the defined content in mind, we designed an appropriate process tree to implement the click paths in the bot sensibly. Before going live, we tested the bot multiple times in the team and tried different click paths. Eventually, we went live quite quickly.
The reason was that we had integrated a feedback option into the bot. Using the feedback, we continuously adapted the bot to the needs of the users – and will continue to do so.
Currently, the bot's communication is based solely on predefined click paths. Both the users' wishes and our own aim to optimize the bot with AI in the future. This will allow for free-text queries to obtain even more targeted relevant information.
The most important insight: having the courage to go live with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), because in this case, the response to the new digital team member was extremely positive both internally and externally.
Julian: At the top of the career page, there is a keyword search field. This suggests job categories, such as insurance or IT consulting, but also links to content areas, such as the blog or your benefits. What do candidates want first when they come to your site, and why have you placed such a search function at the center?
Alina: Not all our visitors take a comprehensive look around and click through the pages — many have a specific goal. To drive this group directly to the content they are interested in and are looking for, we have placed the search function prominently on the homepage.
Should users be on another page, two magnifying glass icons at the top and right of the pages point to the search function.
In the search results, visitors can then choose between job listings or further content, to specifically pick out the content that interests them.
However, experience shows that most people search for job listings, enter job titles, and also use the suggested search terms, such as "Software Development" or "Internship".
[Note from Julian: Indeed, experience shows that most traffic on a career site goes to the job search, but it's the other content that often better conveys the EVP (Employer Value Proposition). That's why I find it clever that the search function suggests not only jobs but also content.]
Julian: Let's move to your job search, where I immediately notice that there is also a free text field at the top, and it talks to me! A text writes itself: "Filter the job list bying keyword" – definitely an eye-catcher.
I also find the yellow markings in some of the job listings – "Featured Job" – unusual. What's the idea behind these UX features?
Alina: We have also incorporated a free text field in the job search to facilitate the targeted search for a specific position or a professional area.
Since we permanently have a large number of open job listings on offer, it is essential to quickly find what one is looking for.
The yellow thumb emoji labeled "Featured Jobs" is intended to highlight open positions for which we are currently searching more intensively.
This marking can be linked to strategies from e-commerce: here too, products that are recommended, discounted, or well-rated are highlighted with visual markings. All Featured Jobs are also listed at the top of the job list and thus seen first.
Julian: The job listings themselves also have a few special effects: Upon opening (alongside the bot), testimonial videos with subtitles automatically start. And I see yellow banners on which a text appears: "APPLY NOW – in 5 minutes". Again, what's the idea behind this?
Alina: The yellow banner serves as the application button. However, what's special is that it has been placed "sticky" and scrolls along with the job listing.
This means it is not fixed in one place where users have to return. They can click on it anytime they decide to apply, without having to search for it. The color alone gives it a noticeable appearance.
We also want to clearly communicate how long an application takes with us. Since this is essential information for the candidates—many of whom abandon an application if it takes too long—we have placed the time indication on the button itself—a further motivator to apply with us.
The testimonial videos are a kind of summary of the position. A future colleague talks more about the activities, providing interested parties with more personal insights into what to expect and the requirements they should meet.
We wanted to create an initial contact point with the team for the candidates. By visualizing, we give the job listing a face, which makes the contact point appear more personal.
Julian: When a candidate clicks on "Apply", a window opens and presents them with a choice: apply with a profile or without a profile. Why do you offer these two options?
Alina: We aim to provide candidates with a personalized user experience, which we are continuously developing. For this reason, we present candidates with a choice:
Applying with a profile allows them to register and view their application status at any time. However, this takes a bit more time than applying without a profile. When applying without a profile, one simply submits their data through a form, but it is not possible to view the current status of the application in this way.
Both methods have their pros and cons, depending on user needs.
Julian: How do you proceed when you implement new UX ideas? How do you come up with them, and how do you ensure it doesn’t become "too much" and overwhelm the users?
Alina: New ideas often develop on their own. Of course, we also look around to see how other companies design their sites and whether we can learn something from them. However, we also regularly coordinate with the agency with which we work together on the career page. From this collaboration and exchange, new ideas and impulses arise.
Once we have implemented something, it is very important for us to gather feedback. How do users manage on the career page? How do our colleagues feel about what we have implemented?
We also use various analytics functions, such as heatmaps or recordings of website visits, which provide insights into how users behave on different pages. From this, much can be deduced, leading to further tasks.
For example, last year we included videos in a selection of job listings for the first time. These started playing with sound immediately upon viewing. From recordings, we noticed that half of the users had stopped the video.
This was an indication that starting with sound might be "too much". Therefore, we decided to start the videos without sound, as the content can still be understood through subtitles.
Julian: Could you say a few words about KPIs, analytics, and impact, i.e., what do you measure? And have you received more or better applications since you developed the candidate experience?
Alina: Our goal is a comprehensive overall picture of our career site. This starts with general data on visitor numbers, visit duration, bounce rate, or the number of page views.
Furthermore, we look at data per page and KPIs for job listings: Through which channels are visitors led to the ads, how many of them click on the applicant button, and how many ultimately complete an application?
Since we started continuously focusing on what users expect from a career page through the Potentialpark rankings and have been developing the page step by step, we have noticed that we are generating significantly more visitors than in previous years. The number of applications has also increased. These are pleasing effects that naturally confirm our actions and additionally motivate us.
Julian: What exciting things do you have planned next, and what can fans of candidate experience look forward to at your company?
Alina: Currently, three topics are in focus for us: First, our entire team is increasingly dedicated to the question of how AI can support us in daily professional life – and thus also on the career website.
We are testing various AI tools and their applications to potentially integrate AI into the chatbot, as mentioned above.
Another top priority is the topic of accessibility. Although zeb as a consulting firm is not affected by the Accessibility Strengthening Act, it is important for us to be a role model and more inclusive. Therefore, we have decided to tackle this issue and become more accessible by 2025.
And last but not least: We also want to optimize the user experience in the candidate selection process. One of our goals is to provide candidates with content about zeb at the beginning of the application process and give them a comprehensive impression of zeb as an employer.
Julian: Mariela and Alina, those were really fascinating insights, and I'm sure it won't be boring moving forward – thank you very much!