Rethinking Recruiting: Mobile Matters

If you’re still thinking of your mobile website as just a smaller version of your desktop site, you need to think again. When it comes to recruitment, an optimized mobile site is equally, if not more important than your traditional site. The current workforce depends on their smart phones for nearly everything. And this includes applying for jobs. But if you want the best talent to apply, you need to make sure your mobile site is updated and easy to use. In recent findings from research firm Kelton Global Research, 70% of job seekers said they want to apply for jobs on their smartphones or tablets; but 60% said they wouldn’t proceed with a job application if they ran into technical problems. That amounts to a lot of potentially strong candidates taking themselves out of the running before hiring managers even get a chance to consider them.

So what makes a good mobile recruitment or careers site? Here are 5 key aspects to keep in mind.

Think screen size. Most good desktop websites have sidebars and white space strategically placed to capture attention and draw the visitor’s eye to the most important parts of the page. With Mobile sites, you still want them to be visually appealing, but they have to adjust to fit the screen of the device the person is using. This means the navigation becomes prominent and central, as well as easy to read without being too small or too crowded. Rule of thumb: Avoid frustrating your visitors.

Fingers vs. mouse. If you’ve been on mobile sites where you need to tap a specific line of text or place a check mark in a small box, you’ve likely encountered situations where you’ve inadvertently pressed the wrong spot on the screen. While a mouse arrow is a lot more accurate, people aren’t walking around with a mouse connected to their phones. So, it’s up to the design of the mobile site to offer more non-text based hyperlinks, and larger tiles, tabs and buttons for people to tap with more ease and accuracy.

Sliding and collapsible navigation. A good mobile site will forego sidebars and multiple menus and instead have all the main content headings visible in a top to bottom scrolling format on the phone’s screen. Viewers can expand those headings buy sliding a simple arrow, or tapping a collapsible widget. The goal is to have all the main topics or headings easily visible so people quickly find what they’re looking for and then give them the option to delve deeper with one swipe or tap.

Simple job applications. Remember, people use their smartphones to request more information or submit a form because they see something that captures their attention right now—and they want to take care of it right now. If that takes more than a couple of clicks, they’re going to lose interest and move on. The best mobile sites will have something like a simple, “I’m interested” button the candidate can click to apply using their LinkedIn profile or to provide simple contact information and the option for a brief greeting or message to the hiring manager. If you want them to upload a resume, it should be a simple one-click option to grab from cloud storage or another saved file. Anything more than one or two clicks will push candidates away. In addition, the applicant should quickly receive a confirmation that the information was received. Most expect a response within 24-48 hours. Even if you’re not sure you want to set up an interview, at least acknowledge that you’ve received the person’s information.

Mobile video conference interviews. Mobile video interviewing is a huge advantage for companies who use it. There are many apps for video conferencing available. Again, simplicity is key. The technology you choose should be easy to access and use. And you’ll find that you can greatly expand the available talent network. You can reach people globally with no travel required and are likely to appeal to employed individuals who might not be actively looking for a new job but might be intrigued by your opportunity.

So, go ahead and visit your website via your smart phone and assess your experience. Was it easy to navigate? Is the careers section obvious and quickly accessible? How intuitive is your job application process? Give your whole mobile method an honest evaluation. An optimized mobile site will go a long way toward achieving an optimized recruiting method.

For more information about the best recruiting strategies, contact us at 415-835-0202 or sales@talentcircles.com.