Mobile optimization is a crucial part of finding and hiring the best candidates, as job seekers increasingly demand not only a robust mobile-optimized job search but also the ability to apply from their smartphones.
Unfortunately, 45 percent of recruiters offer no mobile application process.
Mobile Job Search Numbers
While not all experts agree on the statistics, it’s clear that the number of job seekers demanding mobile optimization for their career search is massive.
According to a recent Pew Research study, 63 percent of smartphone owners use their mobile devices to search for jobs, and 39 percent apply for positions by way of their smartphones.
Glassdoor reports even higher numbers, with 89 percent of its surveyed job seekers likely to use a mobile device during their job search in the next 12 months. Additionally, 45 percent of these Glassdoor respondents use their mobile devices to search job openings at least once every day. One of every four candidates told Glassdoor that they would fail to apply for a position if they could not do so from their smartphone.
How and Where Smartphone Users Apply via Mobile
In its 2016 RecruiterNation study, Jobvite determined that job seekers search for their next employer at times, and in places, that almost demand smartphone usage:
- 52 percent of respondents said they search for jobs in bed
- 37 percent look for jobs while they’re working at their current job
- 15 percent job hunt in the restroom
Mobile-Apply Advantages for Employers
While a hiring firm that mobile optimizes its job application process clearly attracts tech-savvy candidates that its less evolved competitors miss, the employer realizes other mobile-apply advantages as well.
The ability to apply for a position by way of a mobile device also enhances an employer’s ability to meet its diversity goals. According to a recent study by Monster.com, Hispanics, African-Americans, and women are the heaviest users of mobile technology. As of April 2015, Google’s new mobile optimization standards negatively impact placement in job search results of those career sites that are not mobile optimized. As of December 2017, the search engine giant has expanded this mobile focus, with the start of a mobile-first indexing roll out.
Mobile and Social Must Go Hand in Hand
Integration of social media profiles is a crucial ingredient in the mobile-apply recipe.
Three significant reasons for social media’s importance to hiring:
1. Social is where the candidates are, both active and passive. Staff.com recently reported that 14.4 million job seekers now rely on social media to search out new career opportunities. For 29 percent, social media is their primary job-search resource.
2. Prominent social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have easy, efficient targeting tools, to narrow down an employer’s search for the right candidates.
3. Social networks often eliminate the most cumbersome obstacle to the mobile-apply process: uploading a resume. LinkedIn is the most popular social site offering a resume workaround, by way of its one-click link to a job applicant’s LinkedIn profile. (Of its 238 million members, LinkedIn reports that 33 percent access the site from their mobile device.)
Choosing the Right Mobile-Apply Platform
When mobile optimizing its candidate search, an employer has two options:
- Mobile-optimized career site, commonly referred to as msite; or
- Mobile app for candidates.
Multiple recruiting and marketing experts are msite proponents, primarily because apps are costlier to build, narrow candidate reach, and hamper shareability. For employers and recruiters who want to reach those qualified job seekers whose technical savvy and on-the-go lifestyle demand a robust job application process, mobile-optimized job search and apply is a must.
