Remember that old iPhone commercial that touted “There’s an app for that”? Attracting, engaging, and retaining top talent is the foundation of successful companies. A recent study by Simply Hired revealed that 70 percent of job seekers are using their mobile phones to find jobs. In addition, forward thinking companies are leveraging mobile apps to hire the best people, build their brand and enable candidates and employees to talk about their experiences on social networks. Ultimately, the job-hunt is about connecting people and information; yet, there are a plethora of mobile apps, recruiting/talent management software programs and social platforms that can accelerate this process.
Mobile apps make searching for a job easier
Gone are the days when candidates secretly sent emails to employers from their home computers on Sunday nights! Mobile apps allow candidates to discreetly search for positions- anytime, anywhere and quickly respond to postings. Hundreds of mobile apps are available for job search (CareerBuilder, Monster, Indeed, Simply Hired, SnagAJob, Linkup, etc.), plus apps to build your resume (Pocket Resume, Resume App), network for lunch (http://lunchmeetapp.com), prepare for an interview (101Great Answers to Tough Interview Questions), research companies and assess salaries and company reviews (Glassdoor, Indeed), organize the job search process (Fresh Transition Job Search Organizer), and much more. Career Rocketeer provides a list of the top 25 iPhone apps (http://careerrocketeer.com/top-25-must-have-iphone-apps-for-your-job-search).
Apps to Build Professional Network & Personal Brand
Mobile apps have contributed to the explosion in social networks and candidates are leveraging networking apps (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, SnapData Business Cards, etc.) to connect, share and update their profiles, regardless of where you are. For example, Twitter allows you to share content and build awareness of yourself as a thought leader. Twitter’s openness and more casual style make it a useful platform for showcasing your “full self”- interests, talents, style and personality. Allow your authentic self to shine! Network across disciplines and follow/engage with people who inspire you. I consider myself a skilled networker, but Twitter has pushed me outside me comfort zone and I LOVE it! Remember, recruiters will look at your networks consider how your connections frame who you are and what type of fit you would be for a company.
Mobile Recruiting Enhances a Companies Response
Corporations are incorporating mobile apps to facilitate recruitment workflow, making it easier to HR to evaluate candidates, share information with hiring managers and make job offers. It’s critical to have a nimble strategy to reach your target audience, and increase productivity by enabling your team to “work from anywhere.” By 2020, more than 50% of the U.S. workforce will be comprised of millennials. Currently, more than 70% of Fortune 100 companies have not invested in mobile optimizing their career pages. Thus, traditional companies will need to invest in sleek mobile apps to meet the demand of the digital natives.
Bottom line: There are hundreds of apps that candidates can leverage to identify job openings, prep for interviews, expand their professional network and much more. It’s imperative to differentiate yourself, establish a strong online personal brand and leverage your relationships and unique talents to land your ideal job.
What mobile apps do you use for your mobile recruiting strategy? Does your company customize its recruiting pages for mobile view? What mobile strategies have you found effective?
2 Comments
Lisa,
You are so right about the premise that mobile is incredibly important to recruiting! Also, companies that do not embrace the concept that candidates want to have an easy, seamless experience while searching for jobs and applying, will lose candidates to the companies that do. The defection rates from a non-mobile enabled process is incredibly high, according to ERE.net. However with more research, you would see that spending the big bucks for a finite native app is NOT the direction most companies need to go.
There are relatively few companies that offer a reasonably priced solutions with mobile-responsive browser pages. Companies need solutions that actually create a mobile-responsive job search, application pages and ideally have solutions that can integrate a mobile-responsive application into your NON mobile-responsive ATS.
Having a mobile app built for your company is really already a dinosaur solution. Why would you pay the high cost for it when you will have to pay to update it (which will happens frequently) and users have to download it, re-download it with their phone upgrades or new purchases? That is an expensive and bothersome solution. Additionally, there is that wall also that exists when your ATS is not mobile enabled – which most are not – or have been telling us ‘it is coming soon’ for the last year.
You think the more efficient and less expensive options do not exist? Check out SourceMob.com. And feel free to contact me to explain more.
Nancy Ritzman, SourceMob.com
Lisa, Nancy
In our experience companies will go for a mobile website first (which is available on any web browser) rather than a recruitment app (which is only available on certain operating systems).
There is definitely a place for apps but it will very much depend on the individual company, their industry sector and what they are trying to achieve.
In case you weren’t already aware we are running the Global Mobile Recruitment Awards on the 27th March 2014 http://mobilerecruitmentawards.com/ where we will have examples of both mobile recruitment websites and mobile recruitment apps.
Mike Taylor
Founder
Web-Based-Recruitment.com
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