HR ideas…from Jeffery Giesener – CEO – SourceMob
How a Smartphone Could Get You a Hire
But Most Companies Aren’t Moving Fast Enough
Keith Gormley wasn’t looking for a new job on a day last fall when he used his iPhone to pull up a mobile job-search app during his morning commute.
“I was bored, and maybe Twitter wasn’t as active as usual. I was just flipping through to see what jobs were out there,” he said.
A social-media position at Prudential Financial Inc. caught Mr. Gormley’s eye. He clicked through to the financial-services firm’s career site, then did some research on Twitter and LinkedIn. A few days later, he applied for the job from his home computer. By December the 31-year-old had been hired.
Companies are trying to keep up with younger job seekers who are searching for postings on their smartphones and tablets. But they haven’t cracked the code yet on how to create a user-friendly application experience, says Lauren Weber on The News Hub.
But as a Talent Professional you should also be asking… why did Mr. Gormley’s need to apply on his home computer?
Technology-research firm IDC has indicated that in 2014 mobile devices have overtaken desktop and laptop computers as Americans’ preferred method for accessing the Internet. And as Web traffic migrates to smartphones and tablets, employers are rushing to develop mobile versions of their career websites with interactive career content such as employee testimonials, videos workplace tours, and simplified versions of job applications that can more easily be completed on a hand-held device.
Companies and recruiting experts believe mobile recruiting will help them engage candidates who may otherwise fall through the cracks: lower-wage and younger workers who may not have computers at home but are glued to their smartphones, as well as the coveted passive candidates—people like Mr. Gormley who are already employed passive candidate—who might casually explore their options while they are off the clock.
People are getting used to going mobile while sitting on a bus or waiting for an airplane. And if you hate your job, it’s so easy to pull out your phone and see what else is out there. In fact, you can do that from inside your company’s footprint.
“Any company that hasn’t started to address mobile recruiting is at least a two years behind,” said Jeffery Giesener, CEO of SourceMob, an expert in recruiting technology. “This is the connectivity that job seekers expect now.”
The biggest challenge is creating a streamlined user experience. After all, filling in dozens of fields and taking assessment tests is annoying enough with a traditional keyboard; it is even more cumbersome with a tiny screen and touch-based mobile keyboard.
This development isn’t just about technology. Friction in the labor market—the phrase economists use to describe inefficiencies in matching employers with people looking for jobs—might be eased if companies with low-skill, high-turnover jobs make it easier for job seekers to find and apply for openings, said Richard Freeman, a labor economist at Harvard University who has studied online job markets.
Firms are finding that, for higher-skilled positions too, candidates now are demanding easy access of mobile job-searching and applications.
A February 2014 report from market-research firm Nielsen found that 83% of Americans access social-networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn on their mobile devices. With job opportunities shared widely across these sites—and recruiters relying on them to reach out to prospects—more candidates are hearing about openings on their phones and tablets. “If your recruiters send a messages through social career pages, we know it’s likely candidates are going to get it on their phone,” said Jeffery Giesener.
Employers are also starting to experiment with the next frontiers of mobile recruiting: using QR codes and text-messaging, two capabilities that are specifically geared to smartphones.
More and more companies are and should be integrating QR codes into their hiring ads, so that job seekers or customers can walk into a store, scan the code they see on a poster, and be sent directly to the openings available at that location. This technology is also great when used for College or Career Fair Recruiting.
With text messaging, applicants can text a phone number listed, for example, on a bus advertisement and immediately receive a link to job openings. You know just how many people are sharing job texts.
These are classic consumer marketing techniques that are now being applied to job marketing efforts.
Let’s schedule a virtual appointment at your convenience. Simply reach me by email at jeff@sourcemob.com or by phone at 952-807-8364.
ABOUT SOURCEMOB: SourceMob links Internet, social, talent community and mobile recruiting solutions to help talent acquisition professionals recruit the very best candidates for tough-to-fill positions. SourceMob software distributes job content and conversations providing a job posting springboard to over 3.5 million candidate profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and all of the major search engines. Our solutions also enable Mobile Quick Apply and candidate application management services to create efficiencies and lower recruiting costs.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Best,
Jeffery
Jeffery Giesener
CEO/Founder
SourceMob.com
612-349-2740