Should we put real-employee photos on our careers site, or stock art?
Swift Transportation’s new site opts for none of the above. Instead, the trucker used illustrations, something you don’t see a whole lot on career sites.
Swift, a Phoenix-based company whose drivers log more than a billion miles a year, used Bayard Advertising for the site. The two partners wanted to do something a little different than what it sees on a lot of transportation-industry sites: trucks, cars, signs, prices, clutter, and busyness.
Swift and Bayard figured that a little simpler was a little better. They also wanted to capture the employee value proposition, and interviewed current and past employees to see what they liked about their jobs — career paths with stability, growth, good pay, freedom, variety, and good bennies.
Bayard’s National Creative Director Matt Gilbert found the illustrator; the drawings were used through the career site, not just on the main page.
Swift has about 22,000 employees, about 17,000 of those drivers. It also has 31 full-service terminals, so the company tells candidates that “when you’re driving for us, you’re never far from a hot shower, a good meal, and a friendly face.”
6 comments
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Mary Schaefer Jan 25, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Very nicely done by Swift. I’m wondering if they have any women working for them. I can’t find one image of a woman on the site.
Keith Halperin Jan 25, 2012 at 2:58 pm
@ Mary: Good point.
@ Todd: I liked the drawing of the dad with the kids.
Cheers,
Keith
John Jones Jan 27, 2012 at 10:30 am
Mary, you bring up an excellent point. Although women are less than 5% of the truck driving audience (I googled it), companies should show pictures of women in their ads to be politically correct like you say. That’s a great ERE conference topic by the way so I hope they’re listening.
I do know that illustrations take months in this kind of style so maybe they simply didn’t have one ready. I’d contact the agency and ask before jumping to a conclusion. I wonder if women won’t apply because the warm and inviting approach didn’t show a picture of a woman trucker. My instincts tell me the message is louder than the logistics here.
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Lina Blend Jan 30, 2012 at 8:49 am
drawings make it seem unreal and not serious.
my opinion: it’s better to use actual pictures of the employees who don’t mind
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the developer of flv to avi
Chris Motley Jan 31, 2012 at 1:23 am
While it is not pc, perhaps they are being very deliberate.