.png)
Recently there’s been a bit of backlash against the rising tide of mobile recruiting. When hearing about mobile recruiting trends, some have argued the whole thing is a sham. They talk about how companies are simply profiting from the idea of mobile recruiting but recruiters aren’t. According to pundits and thought leaders, the numbers are promising, but they’re used to promote products that don’t need to exist in the marketplace. Companies and users will adapt to these mobile trends eventually, without the need for concerted efforts.
We disagree. Mobile recruiting is the future whether some want to believe it or not. The naysaying could come from not seeing the potential of the mobile recruiting market, deeply held beliefs about mobile users in general, or not leveraging technology in order to attract better candidates. Whatever the case may be, mobile recruiting is big, and here’s why.
Mobile: The Next Big Recruitment Battleground
There’s no doubt the mobile market is on the rise. Here are a few statistics to prove that searching for a job via mobile is growing fast!
- There are over 6 billion mobile subscriptions, equal to 87% of the world’s population and outnumbering landlines 5 to 1.
- 68% of job seekers have viewed a job via mobile.
- 2014 saw a 69% increase in global mobile data traffic.
If you’re looking to get hired, mobile is quickly becoming your best bet. Even in a candidate-driven market, jobs move fast, and candidates need to be able to apply from anywhere. Recent studies have shown that candidates who don’t apply within the first 72 hours of a job being posted decrease their chances at landing the job by 50%. Candidates are adapting to the market by optimizing for mobile, but companies are still stuck in the past.
Mobile’s Cultural Stigma
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons people would be quick to think of mobile recruiting as a fad is tied into mobile’s cultural stigma. Though job seekers and younger candidates are adopting mobile, the older generations making higher-level decisions and speaking out against mobile may look at those on mobile with contempt. There are legitimate concerns when it comes to overusing phones and tablets, and some are right to say one should moderate their usage, even in the workplace.
However, many of these fears are misplaced, and linking a distaste for mobile culture should not affect a company’s decision to adopt social media recruiting habits. Some of the stereotypes about the the mobile user are certifiably false. Recent polls show that 66% of workers would prefer to have less access to popular mobile apps like Facebook and Twitter. The stigma may be a little difficult to overcome, but companies must begin adopting mobile regardless of what they may think about the market.
Don’t Fall Behind on Mobile
If mobile recruiting is not a sham, then why hasn’t it taken over yet? It’s an interesting question, but one ultimately answered by the difference between theory and practice. Though the market is practically begging companies to make the move to mobile, the companies themselves aren’t entirely convinced. Currently, only 20% of companies have mobile-optimized websites, and this could lead the 80% that don’t have them to conclusions based on faulty evidence. These companies may think simply having a career site be accessible on mobile may be enough to qualify as a strategy. It isn’t, and as David Martin explains, many recruiters and employers are stuck in the past:
"While the ingredients of the Internet has been changing rapidly, the basic recruitment solutions have remained predominantly static. Some aesthetics have changed in order to remain “fashionable” but the job board works the same way and the corporate career site now has video. I am not saying there has been zero innovation: clearly job aggregators, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, etc are innovating, but these are not the majority. It used to be that consumers would buy a PC and keep it for five years. The interface has been a keyboard and mouse (or trackpad) for decades. But this is all changing."
So no, mobile recruiting is not a sham. Companies simply need to get over their ingrained fears of new mobile users and leverage the technology that makes it possible in the first place. Mobile recruiting hasn’t become the standard quite yet, but it soon it will be. Whether companies want to be a part of that future is up to them.
ClearCompany’s mobile recruiting and talent management tools are certifiably future-proof. We offer the latest in onboarding, task-tracking, and performance management, all under one roof. Sign up for a demo today to experience the recruiting wave of the future!
