From blackberries to iPhones, to HTCs and Samsung Galaxys, with a smartphone to suit every type of user it is no surprise that recent figures indicate sales of smartphones have shot up by 75% worldwide.
Their applications, better known as ‘apps’, have been working their magic on many industries – you can now check your balance using your smartphone, or do your weekly shop or spend hours on end helping out a bunch of birds that seem to be quite angry about something.
Could smartphones be a staple of the future of recruitment?
For many services and products, having a custom-made app makes sense. It makes the customer experience easier, faster and efficient. Companies also benefit. Apps can be marketing tools to broaden customer base and build consumer loyalty, as well as doubling up as an office away from the office.
So could the smartphone and its applications do the same within the recruitment industry?
Online job boards have seen a 1500% increase in traffic from mobile devices since 2010. With peaks of job searching activity in line with the morning commute and late evening slumber, it seems that going mobile allows job seekers to search for longer throughout the day. Furthermore, Jobsite accounts that 9% of all mobile traffic ends in people actually applying for a role, with 5% of all of the applications it receives coming from mobiles.
With numerous people using their smartphone to follow job boards, search for the latest vacancies and apply, can recruiters get in on the action?
Firstly, recruiters can use apps to attract candidates. Video clips are a great way of advertising a vacancy, and a creative approach to standing out from the crowd. Downloading the official apps from Social Media’s ‘Big 3’ allow you to source and check out potential and passive candidates on the go.
Using mobile technology can assist in simplifying the screening process too. Apps such as the Hire Syndicate and Auto Search enable recruiters to collaborate with fellow recruiters and scour multiple websites using simple Boolean search strings. Candidates are able to submit their CVs to recruiters, which are then stored on a database for easy viewing and screening. Companies such as PepsiCo have created their own career app that gives prospective applicants the opportunity to get a feel for the company before they apply.
Whilst research does suggest that shunning mobile technology within recruitment may affect the amount of talent attracted, there still seems to be a long way to go before the handy Smartphone and its apps become a staple recruitment tool.
What are your thoughts? Do smartphones and their applications have a place in recruitment? Comment and share!
Written by Bavinder Chahal, a recruiter at PPS
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Great post, definitely something to think about. However I wonder if too many people are jumping on the app-bandwagon. The likes of reed.co.uk can probably get away with it, but smaller recruiters and job sites might find it a big expense with no pay-off. If they want to venture into this arena then they may want to consider a mobile-optimised website, but an app may be going a bit too far, IMHO anyway…
Comment by Steven — March 6, 2012 @ 2:34 pm
Many thanks for reading my post! Yes I definitely believe it is something for all organisations to think about! Smartphones and apps do seem to be the way forward and are a great way to attract candidates, however I agree it would be beneficial to look into the size of organisations!
Comment by Bavinder — March 6, 2012 @ 3:34 pm
I would personally be more inclined to go with the optimized mobile site. According to NORAS there are a lot more people LOOKING at jobs on a mobile device than there are actually applying. This, of course, is more likely due to a lack of mobile optimized site than anything else. It makes sense to go for the sites option as I’m sure most people would start their search at the search engine rather than the app store
Comment by www.jobsinleeds.co.uk — March 8, 2012 @ 11:32 am