We live in a world where people are outnumbered by mobile devices. There are almost 7.2 billion people on Earth, but well over 7.2 billion active SIM cards. Phones are everywhere.
Alongside this mobile explosion, people’s behaviours have changed. A study by Nielsen found that 91% of adults have a mobile phone within arm's reach 24-hours a day. In 2014 mobile data traffic was nearly 30 times larger than the entire global internet in 2000, according to Cisco. When you consider this alongside the fact that the amount of handheld traffic is projected to double in the next three years, it’s clear the world is mobile mad.
The recruitment ravine
The above figures should have professionals in the industry scrambling. The job market is incredibly competitive and the talent war is in full flow. With skilled workers in short supply and high demand, why are UK recruiters not dedicating more resources to mobile?
One explanation is industry figures are lacking a solid direction and are uncertain how to prioritise and maximise their efforts. This has led to mistakes being made in mobile recruitment, many of which can be easily avoided.
Learning the landscape
The most common blunder in mobile recruitment strategies is not understanding the lay of the land. To succeed in a new environment, professionals must be aware of its trends and why people are using it.
A recruiter must ask why mobile is important to job seekers, which, generally, is due to the ease and ubiquitousness of the technology. This is supported by Jobvite research that found 43% of job seekers have used mobile devices to engage in job searches.
Another important task is creating a mobile career site. This is a website designed specifically for mobile users, rather than for desktops that is then rendered on a smartphone or tablet. In many cases these sites don’t display properly on a mobile device, leaving the page struggling to load or simply not working. With people’s attention spans dropping, you have a limited amount of time to hook a potential candidate. Setbacks like this will impact pick-up.
However your business decides to design the mobile site, you must ensure people can also apply on their devices. More and more individuals are demanding ease of use, and if not delivered you might miss out on the best and brightest.
Bolstering the back end
While creating an attention-grabbing, mobile-optimised site is important, it won’t matter unless the hiring manager is able to deal with the flow of candidates. Don't forget that recruitment is a two-way street. A mobile career site will drive more people to you, but if the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is not optimised to the format, then your staff will be fighting a losing battle. To adapt to modern technology, your company needs to ensure its own systems are up-to-date and flexible.
Mobiles are moulding the world. They’ve impacted how people live their lives and how they find work. To discover the greatest candidates, professionals must adopt modern technology and communicate the same way their targets do. Achieving this will assist in attracting the best and brightest applicants, benefitting your business for years to come.
Daniel Finnigan is the CEO of Jobvite, a social recruiting and applicant tracking system
