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So now you’re convinced you need a better mobile application experience. But where do you start? Between building a website, sourcing on social, and using the right applicant tracking system, figuring out mobile recruiting can feel like juggling multiple projects at once, and often, these elements have to proceed in lockstep before any of them can continue. This can lead to lots of waiting on the people working on each project, and it can feel like you’re not getting anything done.
Two things you can start working on right now, however, are defining your employer branding and creating the right job ads. Creating these two things from the ground up can seem intimidating, but the biggest issue with these two aspects is in the planning. Updating your employer brand to appeal to the mobile user is an important step in creating your mobile applicant process, and will affect most of the other things in the process (how you build your website, how you source candidates, which applicant tracking system you use), so it’s important to first plan how you want mobile candidates to see you.
The Importance of Branding
When a company reaches the status of a megacorporation, branding can seem like a well-oiled machine. But McDonalds, Intel and GE all still iterate, changing marketing strategy with every generation of people they want to attract. Branding is important no matter how big you are. This is especially true when trying to attract candidates, 91% of whom consider a prospective employer’s branding as one of the key factors in their job searches. It’s so important, in fact, 42% of candidates would never seek employment with a company they’ve had a poor experience with. There’s definitely enough incentive to nail your branding strategy.
This is why optimizing your application process is so important: only 26 of the Fortune 500 have a mobile-ready application process in place. Having a mobile application experience puts you ahead of the hiring curve, no matter the size of your company. And when targeting mobile candidates, here are few things to keep in mind:
Job Postings For the Future
Job postings are important in defining what kind of candidate you’re looking for. The experience you need, the kind of culture you’re presenting, and the responsibilities of the job should all be front and center. Using targeted keywords to help candidates find you also helps. But how you present your job posting can be just as important as the posting itself. If you want to get noticed, you’ll have to think outside the box. Companies that develop the right mobile applicant brand, like Chipotle (which created its own mobile app to process applications) see up to 20% of their applications through mobile.
Downloading an app may seem like a barrier to entry for some, but simply going through the motions of applying can make the candidate feel like the job is worth getting, particularly for larger brand. Additionally, having the app on their phone will remind them of their application more often, urging them to go back and check on the status of their application, or apply again, if it’s been long enough.
Defining your employment brand and presenting your job postings are only the first steps in developing your mobile applicant branding. In the next few parts of our series, we’ll be covering how to source your candidates on mobile and in social media, how to build a better mobile website and interview, and what your first few steps should be after hiring a mobile candidate.
Don't miss out on the rest of the Better Hiring Through Mobile series:
Better Hiring Through Mobile: Why You Need a Mobile Application Process [Part 1]
