The stats speak for themselves. Over the last 5+ years, the number of candidates searching, reviewing and applying for jobs on mobile devices has increased noticeably. Which isn’t all that surprising considering we do everything on our mobile devices. Chances are your phone is within arms reach right now.
Yet, very few organizations have embraced a mobile approach to recruiting that puts handheld devices at the forefront of both strategy and implementation. Only 20% have a mobile career page and 18% have optimized job posts.
The truth is that when most people think of mobile recruiting they think in terms of devices. The conversation revolves around building a career page that works not just for desktops but phones and tablets. In this context, mobile is a complementary extension of the desktop. The result is often a watered down mobile experience that feels more like an afterthought than a finished product.
However the true potential in mobile extends beyond the device. The true potential is in embracing a mindset that builds an experience focused on the key tasks candidates want to accomplish. Rather than creating a mobile‐friendly website for the same things you did yesterday, mobile can change the way you recruit for tomorrow.
Mobile devices are inherently constrained by size. As a result, procedures must be reevaluated and information prioritized in order to avoid the extraneous detours and general clutter that make up most of today’s desktop-accessed career pages.
A surprising amount still include poor navigation, irrelevant content and unrelated promotions. Losing all the screen space forces you to focus on keeping the core elements in the forefront without flooding candidates with superfluous amounts of filler. Regardless of screen size, a mobile mindset helps keep you focused on what the candidate can accomplish, ultimately leading to a better experience.
Consider the 4 different mobile interaction types that explain mobile usage behaviour.
Lookup/Find: I need an answer to something now‐ usually related to location
Explore/play: I have some time to kill and just want time distractions
Check/Status: Something important to me keeps changing or updating and I want to stay on top of it
Edit/Create: I need to get something done now that can’t wait.
Each one of these behaviours helps explain the drive behind mobile usage. Understanding a user’s context will help to determine the best digital strategy for your recruitment efforts. In the end, candidates don’t care about your mobile career page, they just want to be able to get things done regardless of device.
Embracing a mobile mindset permits us to do just that, build a candidate focused experience. Approaching mobile as an extension of the desktop only sets you up for further disruption. Embracing mobile as a mindset leaves you be better equipped to adapt, regardless of device.