[…and how to capitalise on them when buying recruitment software]

– By Lucy Heskins, Webrecruit

With the proliferation of mobile device ownership, and the continual rise in candidates conducting mobile job searches, the recruitment market is, once again, changing.

This means businesses that are serious about developing their recruitment strategies are having to re-consider their existing tools; adapting them to suit changing behaviours to ensure they attract and nurture the right talent.

We’ve also returned to a candidate-driven market. Statistics from Rec and KPMG’s Report on Jobs states that the demand for staff is at its highest for a decade. Employers can no longer be inflexible towards candidate demands; they have to adapt their tools and approaches to meet their future talent’s needs.

As a result, those who fail to embrace new technologies will hinder candidate attraction efforts. Those who integrate them will only future-proof their work.

One common theme that is prevalent within recruitment discussions is around the value of mobile-optimised recruitment software, and the return you will see by investing in it.

So how seriously do you need to take this issue? Here are three key areas that will inform your decision about investing in recruitment software that’s ‘mobile job hunter friendly’.

1) Mobile job hunting isn’t coming; it’s here already.

72% of active candidates and 62% of passive candidates have visited a company site on their mobile to learn about careers, according to statistics from LinkedIn.

To put this into context in a business sense: whilst traffic from mobile devices to your website may only be 15%, if you’re receiving around 25,000 visits a month, this equates to a significant amount of people. People – or in fact, talent – you are missing out on by not using the right recruitment technology.

(Ask yourself, how many good candidates that come to your website are you missing out on?)

2) You’ve got the opportunity to get one step ahead of your competitors

43% of in-house recruitment managers still do not have access to a mobile-optimised careers site, according to The Forum of In-House Recruitment Managers’ (The FIRM) latest annual membership survey.

It seems take-up of mobile optimised recruitment software is still slow at present, despite the overwhelming evidence mobile job hunting is becoming a mainstream.Hopscotch

If you are struggling to understand the return you will see from investing in optimised software, make sure to really question your supplier and drill down on the reporting you can access to identify the lift in response rates and, more importantly, quality of applicant.

You don’t need to be a data analyst to identify where you will see value-adds, but if you get to grips with the data you can access, you’ll help to secure competitive edge over your competitors.

3) The search and application process needs to be based around the job seekers’ terms

Webrecruit’s latest survey, Jobseeker Behaviour & Interaction with Recruitment Technology, revealed some interesting stats around what people want:

38% of jobseekers would be put off from applying if a company’s site wasn’t mobile optimised.

Most searches conducted during commuting are done using a smartphone (40%).

Of those searches carried out during the evening in a social setting, such as watching TV, 25% of respondents used their tablet and 25% used their mobile.

Yes, ok, so this may seem obvious, but neglect to factor in the candidate’s requirements, and you will miss out on talent coming to you directly.

To reach the best talent, you need to do it on their terms. Failure to make the process of searching and applying for a job using a mobile device can only result in a negative impact on applications.

 

About Webrecruit

Webrecruit has developed a new offering for the resourcing market with its strategic partner, Hireserve.

Building on Webrecruit’s 13 years’ candidate sourcing and reporting abilities, and combining them with Hireserve’s market-leading recruitment software, the partnership offers in-house recruitment managers the best tools to build direct sourcing capabilities.

About the author

Tristan Potter

Tristan has a decade's worth of experience writing content and copy for organisations across Bristol and the Southwest of England. He has written on a diverse range of topics, including technology, philosophy, politics, and recruitment. His writing has appeared in The Drum, HR Grapevine, and The Guardian, among other publications. He joined Hireserve in March 2022.