The recruiting website checklist for Alberta contractors

Before you write anything

Gather facts first. Sit down with the owner and one trusted field lead and answer these honestly:

• What roles do you hire most often, and which are hardest to fill?
• What do your best people say they like about working for you?
• Why have good people left?
• What's the schedule: home every night, rotations, seasonal?
• How do you handle overtime, travel pay, accommodation and per diems?
• Do you provide vehicles, fuel cards, tools or tool allowances?
• What training and tickets do you pay for?
• Do you register and support apprentices?
• Who does a new hire report to on day one?

The answers become the content. If any answer is uncomfortable, fix the offer before fixing the website.

The careers hub

This is the landing page for anyone who clicks "Careers". Check that it includes:

• ☐ A short, honest description of what it's like to work for you, in two or three paragraphs
• ☐ The types of work and the regions you work in (for example, "residential service in the Calgary region" or "maintenance and turnaround work across Northern Alberta")
• ☐ Schedule types: home daily, rotation, seasonal
• ☐ Benefits you actually offer, listed plainly
• ☐ Training and ticket support
• ☐ Real photos of your people, trucks and shop
• ☐ A list of open roles linking to each role page
• ☐ A simple way to apply or ask a question by phone, text or email
• ☐ The name of the person who reads applications

Keep it separate from the customer side of the site, with its own navigation link, so customers and job seekers each find their own path. Our recruiting-friendly websites service builds this structure.

Role pages

Write one page for each open role. Each should cover:

• ☐ Job title in plain trade language, the way a tradesperson would search for it
• ☐ Location and travel: where the work is and how much travel is involved
• ☐ Schedule: hours, rotation pattern, on-call expectations
• ☐ Pay: a range if you can publish one; otherwise describe the structure (hourly, overtime, travel pay)
• ☐ What you'll do: five to eight concrete tasks
• ☐ What you need: required certifications, tickets, licence class and experience
• ☐ What we provide: vehicle, tools, PPE, training
• ☐ Who you'll work with: crew size and who you report to
• ☐ How to apply: by phone, text or email, with what to send

Avoid copying generic job descriptions from the internet. Tradespeople can tell, and it signals that you don't know the job.

Add job posting structured data to each role page so it can appear in Google's job search results, and remove the page or mark it as closed when the role is filled.

The apprenticeship page

If you sponsor apprentices, this page can be a deciding factor for younger applicants and career changers. Several trades in Alberta are compulsory certification trades, including electrician, plumber and welder, so applicants want to know whether you'll register them and support their progress. Include:

• ☐ Which trades you sponsor apprentices in
• ☐ How you support them: time off for technical training, help with costs, mentoring
• ☐ What progression looks like from first year to journeyperson
• ☐ A short story from a current or former apprentice, written by them or approved by them
• ☐ A link to the official source for apprenticeship information

Describe your own practice. Leave rules and requirements to the official sources and link them.

Rotation and remote work

For contractors working in Northern Alberta, around the Industrial Heartland or anywhere on rotations, add a page about how that work runs:

• ☐ Typical rotation patterns
• ☐ Accommodation: camp, hotel or local housing
• ☐ Travel: flights, mileage, pickup points
• ☐ What a typical day looks like
• ☐ Safety orientation and site-specific training
• ☐ How you handle family emergencies and time off

Honesty here reduces early turnover. A recruit who knows exactly what a 14-and-7 rotation involves is more likely to stay than one who finds out on day three.

Photos and video

• ☐ Real people from your company, with their permission
• ☐ Proper PPE in every shot
• ☐ A mix of field work, shop, trucks and team moments
• ☐ A short video tour of the shop or a typical day, if you can manage it
• ☐ No stock photos presented as your crew

How applicants contact you

Most tradespeople apply from their phone, often at the end of a long shift. Make it easy:

• ☐ A tap-to-call number and a text option
• ☐ An email address for sending a resume
• ☐ No long online forms or account sign-ups
• ☐ A promise you can keep about when you'll respond

Then actually respond. Assign one person to check applications daily.

Measuring whether it works

Track these each month:

If many people visit a role page but few apply, look at pay transparency, schedule and requirements on that page. If applicants arrive but leave within weeks, the page may be overselling.

Common mistakes

1. "Always hiring" with no details. It reads as constant turnover.
2. Copied job descriptions. They signal you don't understand the role.
3. No pay information at all. Many applicants skip postings without it.
4. Hiding the schedule. Rotation and on-call details matter most to many applicants.
5. Stale postings. Roles filled months ago that are still live.
6. Slow responses. Strong candidates accept another offer while you're still reading resumes.
7. Careers content mixed into customer pages. Confuses both audiences.

Next steps

Start with the facts-gathering session, then build the hub and your two most important role pages. Add the apprenticeship and rotation pages if they apply. See how hiring pressure differs on the Northern Alberta and Edmonton region pages, check pricing for how website builds are handled on each plan, or contact us by call, text or email.