Talkin’ Bout a Mobile Revolution
Recruiting is now mobile. Don’t miss your calling with mobile apply!
Mobile revolution. I’m sure you’ve heard the term before. Tech pundits
have been harping on the arrival of the mobile revolution like those
annoying doomsday preppers who are always wrong. It seems that every
year, there is some new trend that we are told will change the world,
and every year, these predictions fall flat.
Despite reason for skepticism, however, the numbers surrounding mobile
are quite convincing and by all indications the mobile day of reckoning
is already upon us. This past year mobile search surpassed search on
traditional desktops and by year’s end, there will be 207.2 million
users in the US (2 billion worldwide).
As a recruiter or hiring manager you may be thinking, “I get it, people
are obsessed with their phones, but what does this have to do with me?”
Surprisingly, the answer may be far more than you think!
Job Seekers at Forefront of Mobile Revolution
Based on reports from numerous outlets, job seekers are actually at the
forefront of this mobile shift. Research carried out by both
and
found that 9 out of every 10 applicants use their smartphones during
their job search, totaling 1 billion
job searches each month by Americans. Furthermore, Indeed issued a
report finding that 70% of the
from Millennials and Gen Xers on their site come from mobile
devices, with Baby Boomers not far behind at 50%.
Mobile Candidates Take on More Complex Application Tasks
From these findings, it is clear that smartphones have already become an
instrumental part of the job search for most candidates. Ok, so
candidates use their smartphones to search for jobs…big deal. How
about for activities such as uploading a resume or actually filling out
and submitting a job application? There is no way applicants intend to
use their mobile devices for these more complex application tasks,
right? Actually,
do wish to complete such tasks on their smartphones, and they may be
even more eager to do so than you think. According to reports issued by
Pew:
* 50% of smartphone job seekers have used their smartphone to fill out
an online job application.
* 23% of smartphone job seekers have used their smartphone to create a
resume or cover letter.
Even beyond these early adopters, it appears that the vast majority of
all job seekers are interested in deeper mobile apply capabilities. In
an article by recruiting industry thought leader Tim Sackett, he
preaches on the importance of a more advanced
apply offering, citing additional
research that found:
* 70% of applicants want to apply for jobs directly from their mobile
device.
* 55% of candidates want to upload their resume to a career site from
their mobile device.
So Why Are Mobile Apply Rates Low?
From these findings, one has to ask the question, “If all of these
mobile job seekers want to apply directly from their smartphones, why do
they so often switch to a desktop computer to complete an application?”
90% of job seekers are using their smartphones in the job search, so why
aren’t mobile apply rates higher? These are great questions that really
bring us to the root of the mobile apply problem.
Cumbersome mobile apply offerings lead to low candidate conversion
rates.
Simply put, applying to most jobs on a smartphone SUCKS! According to
Glassdoor, “1 in 2 job seekers believe it is difficult to
to jobs on a mobile device.” Think back in your own experience.
Based on the statistics, chances are you have searched for job
opportunities on your smartphone and even greater chances are that the
candidate experience wasn’t good. I can speak to this personally.
A Letter from a Recent Job Seeker
Having transitioned jobs a month ago, my own candidate experience is
still fresh in my mind. Being employed while I carried out my job
search, the best time for me to hunt for jobs was on the train to and
from work. Of course, being on the move, with limited space, I used my
mobile device to do this. This was great because in a way, it allowed me
to be productive with my commute.
Unfortunately, very few of the enticing job opportunities that I found
through my mobile search were optimized for mobile apply. In fact, the
application process was nearly always so cumbersome on my smartphone,
that I was forced to switch over to my laptop to actually apply. This
meant spending all train ride compiling a list of job opportunities on
my smartphone that I intended to apply to. Then when I got home, I would
sit down at my computer, hoping to remember all of those jobs I had
identified, research for them and then apply. This was a huge
duplication of my efforts and an incredibly inefficient use of my time.
Furthermore, I simply forgot to apply to many of the jobs that I had
intended to because of the time and complexity involved in the crossover
from my mobile device.
Candidates Want to Apply from Their Mobile Devices
The reality is, I (and most candidates) want, and would even be excited
to apply directly to jobs from a smartphone. However, the overwhelming
majority of career pages and applications are not optimized for mobile.
This makes for a burdensome apply process that leads to
mobile candidate conversion rates. Currently, only 1.5% of mobile
candidates click through a job posting, in comparison with 8% of desktop
candidates. These statistics scream of a poor candidate experience.
Optimizing for Mobile Will Improve Your Candidate Experience and
Increase Conversion Rates
Previously, we have discussed how a
candidate experience correlates directly to high candidate drop-off
rates. Job seekers want a simple and transparent application process. As
more and more candidates utilize smartphones in their job search, it is
essential that your careers page and application are optimized for
mobile use.
Contact Newton to Optimize Your Mobile Apply Offering
Newton offers a fully responsive Applicant Tracking software platform to
build your career pages and applications. This means mobile, tablet,
desktop, you name it—the candidate experience will always be seamless.
us to learn more about how you can optimize your mobile apply
offering with Newton today!
Guest
Post by Danny Madigan, Marketing Associate
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