Why WordPress is picking archive.php instead of page.php?

You can’t use the slug careers as a page slug as it’s already in use as the CPT name. /careers is your post types archive, that is why it’s loaded archive.php and not page.php.

Even if you did have a page with that slug, the archive rewrite rule has a higher priority. You’ll also find it in the generated sitemap, and the /careers slug is also used to generate the permalinks for individual posts of that type.

The closest you can get is turning off the archive.

I tried to force the template by selecting a custom page template but that didn’t help.

This doesn’t work because the page is never what is being displayed to begin with. WordPress believes based on the main query it is on an archive of posts of type careers and will behave according to the standard template hierarchy, choosing the most specific template it can find that matches. E.g. if archive-careers.php was available it would have loaded that instead.

Remember, the template chosen is determined by the parameters of the main query. WordPress didn’t load a page because you were on page.php, it’s the other way round, it loaded page.php because the main query said it was for a page, and it may decide to load a custom page template if that page in the query specifies one. But if it’s an archive that doesn’t happen. Look at the template hierarchy for more details.

Or even with the help of Elementor pro?

If you want to style that archive using Elementor, then you will need to contact Elementor support or post in an Elementor community. 3rd party plugin dev support is off topic here and not in this stacks scope.

Related Posts:

  1. Redeclare/Change Slug of a Plugin’s Custom Post Type
  2. Custom Post Type Slug / Page Slug Conflict – Prevent use of reserved slug on page save?
  3. How to get custom post type label and singular label from its slug?
  4. Custom Post type & Taxonomy URL structure
  5. custom slug for custom post type
  6. Slug Formatting : Acceptable Characters?
  7. Get list of all registered post types slugs
  8. Combining Multiple Taxonomies in one URL
  9. Change slug of registered custom post type in child theme
  10. Taxonomy archive with same slug as custom post type?
  11. Taxonomy page returns 404 page not found
  12. Custom Post Type – Same Post Name, Different Post Type
  13. Priority for Categories, Tags, Taxonomies, Posts, Pages and Custom Posts with same url
  14. Setting a title on a Custom Post Type that doesn’t support titles
  15. Custom Post Type pagination when CPT ‘rewrite’ rule and a page have the same slug
  16. Remove Slug from Custom Post Type results in 404
  17. Force unique page slugs across all post types
  18. Custom Slug for a custom post type and default post
  19. Interesting Custom Post Type Slug with Taxonomy and Custom Field
  20. Rewrite CPT slug with two taxonomy slug instead of one
  21. Get slug to point to different content of the same post
  22. WP query by custom post type slug/name
  23. Remove Taxonomy Slug when No Taxonomy is Assigned to Custom Post Type?
  24. Custom Taxonomy breaking pages permalinks
  25. Using custom post type parent as slug
  26. Rewrite rules for custom post type slug
  27. Make slug as ID Number for custom post types
  28. How to remove slugs from multiple custom post types
  29. Custom post type and taxonomy slug issue
  30. Does WordPress limit the length of slug names for Post Meta or Terms?
  31. Wrong generated page_name/slug on first publish of custom post type
  32. Stop / prevent WordPress from updating permalinks of custom post type
  33. Append date to custom post type url slug
  34. CPT custom archive template does not get loaded
  35. Change custom post type slug from plugin options
  36. Using Same Slug With Multiple Post Types
  37. How to add a post slug to a url?
  38. How to target a specific custom post type post and its all children and grandchildren?
  39. Custom rewrite url category
  40. Allow duplicate slugs for custom post type with taxonomies
  41. Nested Custom Post Type or Custom Post Type Parents?
  42. Programmatically rewriting slug through functions.php but returns 404
  43. Create a custom php page and load it at a specific slug
  44. Custom Post Type with Same Page URL
  45. How to prevent a CPT’s slug and page slug from conflicting with each other?
  46. Custom Post Slug same as Parents Category Slug
  47. Including taxonomy term before post type breaks top level pages
  48. Custom Post Type – Duplicate Page Slugs
  49. Auto Slug Generation for Custom Post type
  50. How to make a posttype show under a page hierarchy (example.com/page/posttype/entry)?
  51. Slug Confusion Between Post and Custom Post types?
  52. How to find a specific post_type using its “rewrite slug”?
  53. Different slug taxonomy for two different CPT
  54. How to add current custom taxonomy slug to body class
  55. Change Slug of a Custom Post Type
  56. How can Custom Post Type and a page have the same slug?
  57. How to get postname in custom page?
  58. Changing slug of all posts
  59. WordPress different templates for same type custom post (but different slug)
  60. Custom Post Type Advanced Slug
  61. Automatically update slug with latest title within custom post type [duplicate]
  62. Apply template by path/slug related to custom post type?
  63. Custom Post Type to replace Woocommerce products – page not found error
  64. How to use a specific custom field in a custom post type as slug
  65. sort by name (slug) custom post type
  66. How to controll the Posts post type and general wondering about WP data structure
  67. Under What Conditions Can I name my CPT the same as my CPT Page?
  68. How to change CPT single post slug
  69. How do I set a post slug automatically based on taxonomy?
  70. Custom rewrite rule based on other custom post type title
  71. Difference between a default post type and a custom post type?
  72. Remove custom taxonamy slug with pagination
  73. Custom Post Type not using correct page template
  74. WordPress doesn’t respect Page slug in custom post type url pagination. Keeps getting removed
  75. Add %post_id% to slug of custom post type and prevent the “unique slug” thing that WP does?
  76. Output all terms slugs for a loop filter
  77. add .html to custom post type with WPML
  78. Custom post type URL structure with site.com/custom_taxonomy_slug/post_name
  79. Custom post type post_type_link gives “page not found” on any other custom post type
  80. Two CPT: one is using part of the custom rewrite slug from the other
  81. Custom permalink rewrite rules – how do I fix this?
  82. Custom taxonomy archive slug overwrites static page
  83. Slugs on hierarchical taxonomies
  84. Problem to get the link of the default ‘post’ post type like the orther custom types
  85. Can I override the permalink/slug on creation
  86. Get the custom post type slug but remove the rewrite prefix?
  87. Rewriting archive page slug to be different than custom post type slug
  88. Get full control over custom post type url
  89. custom post type archive slug vs. custom page template
  90. Relationship with 2 custom post types
  91. Category slug not showing for Custom Post Type
  92. Can’t make permalink of CPT work
  93. How to make nested custom post type slugs work
  94. WP Query Post Type with same Taxonomy name
  95. Is this the correct way to add post-slug input field?
  96. WordPress pagination URL
  97. is this a bug or not?
  98. Same slug for Custom Taxonomy archive and CPT archive – Rewrite rule not working
  99. Removing custom post type name from permalink
  100. Custom Post Type slug has the same Redirection entry