There is an explosion happening. Mobility has blasted its way into the world of recruitment and there is no stopping it. So, as a recruiter, it’s your job to know exactly how mobile is weaving throughout the hiring process. Candidates want to be able to search, apply, and upload their resumes through their mobile smartphones. If your career page can’t do that – if your career page isn’t responsive – then you are bound to lose up to 40% of your talent pool. Kevin Wheeler, advisor and consultant in recruiting and learning explained what he typically finds when searching for jobs on a mobile phone:

“If you are like most firms, I will find a site heavy with text and hard to read on a phone screen. If I even get to the stage of applying for a job, I would find it impossible without going to your career site.”

Mobile Facts

Cell phones have come a long way since the late 80s and early 90s. Users can do just about anything on their phones. In the United States, 90% of adults have a cell phone. Moreover, 58% of American adults have a smartphone. This means that over half of the population has the ability to browse the internet on a mobile device. In fact, 63% of smartphone owners use their devices to browse the internet. Of the candidates who own smartphones, 78% of them would apply for a new job through their mobile device. 55% of candidates who do use their smartphone to job search do so because of sheer convenience.

The Problem with Mobile Recruitment

If job seekers are using their mobile devices to search for new employment opportunities so often, why are so many companies not optimizing their recruitment? Only 13% of companies are adequately investing in mobile recruitment. That leaves 87% of organizations that are not participating in the mobile recruitment shift.

Unfortunately, not adapting their recruitment practices can hurt them. Candidates want to be a part of an organization that is innovative and responsive to changes in global culture. Companies that cater to the 59% of candidates who use their mobile device to learn about new opportunities win the candidate competition.

It’s important to create a career page where candidates can in the very least browse job openings and employer brand information easily. Allowing candidates to apply and post resumes with their phone would be a better way to optimize the mobile recruiting process, because 52% of candidates use their mobile phones to apply for jobs.

The Corporate Mobile Readiness Report by iMomentous assesses the preparedness of the Fortune 500 in the increasingly mobile world. Ed Newman, Vice President of Strategy at iMomentous, said:

“What do companies like McDonalds, Macy’s, Dow Chemical, General Motors, AT&T, and Wal-Mart have in common? Well, aside from being some of the world’s most successful companies, with internationally recognized brands and billions in annual revenue, these are the only six companies who met all of the criteria in the third edition of the ‘Corporate Mobile Readiness Report.’”

According to the 2014 Talent Trends report, 85% of the workforce should be targeted for mobile recruitment. 15% of candidates are currently employed, and secretly looking for new employment. Most of them don’t want to use work computers for the job search – understandably so. Cater to their needs and optimize your hiring process for mobile devices. Not only will they appreciate it, it is a good decision for your recruitment team as well. 

Please consider that although job seekers are demanding a mobile experience, a mere 5% of the Fortune 500 companies currently allow job seekers to apply to job openings from their mobile devices. Although many of the top employers are coming late to the party, mobile is in fact the future of recruiting. The faster employers upgrade and optimize, the further ahead of the competition they will be. After all, staying competitive is the name of the business game. Don’t run the risk of losing candidates because of a poor career page.

Bio: Raj Sheth, CEO/Partner

Raj Sheth is the co-founder of Recruiterbox, an online recruitment software and applicant tracking system designed especially for growing companies. Prior to Recruiterbox, he founded two other web startups -- a classifieds portal and an ecommerce site. He is a graduate of Babson College and spent the first three years of his career as a financial analyst with EMC Corporation in Boston. Learn more about Recruiterbox right now.

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