Mobile recruitment – the new reality

Citation

Redmond, J. (2014), "Mobile recruitment – the new reality", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 13 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-02-2014-0016

Mobile recruitment – the new reality

Article Type: HR at work From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 13, Issue 3

Short case studies and research papers that demonstrate best practice in HR

Sonru, a global leader in the field of video interviews and selection, recently released a new white paper entitled "Mobile recruitment: more than social media". The white paper presents global research findings on the following three distinct areas of mobile recruitment, as well as feedback from Sonru clients relating to their usage of Sonru’s mobile solutions:

1. Devices used by job seekers.

2. Attitudes towards mobile-optimized websites.

3. Attitudes towards mobile-enabled recruitment processes.

Devices used by job seekers

According to Simply Hired (2013), over 70 percent of job seekers use mobile devices to browse career opportunities online, yet 87 percent of talent acquisition professionals do not think their companies are investing adequately in mobile (LinkedIn, 2013a).

The proliferation of mobile devices and usage among job seekers means that companies can no longer afford to ignore the M word in their recruiting efforts. "It makes finding a job more difficult as I don’t have anything other than a tablet at home," commented one job seeker respondent.

Attitudes towards mobile-optimized websites

A total of 84 percent of job seekers think job organizations should have mobile-friendly sites (Educate, Metashift and Reconverse, 2012), yet 70 percent of Fortune 100 companies do not have career pages optimized for mobile devices (Seven Step, 2013). One respondent commented about a company without a mobile optimized website: "I feel that given how popular mobile devices are, that the company is behind the times."

Sonru respondents also recorded negative feelings towards hiring companies that do not optimize their sites for mobile devices when browsing for career opportunities using words such as "irritating," "frustrating" and "not embracing modern technology" making them "reluctant" as the process "becomes very time consuming and inconvenient."

Optimizing web content and layout for mobile devices is not something HR professionals should do just to provide potential candidates with a seamless experience for the sake of it. Hard data makes a more compelling case – for example, mobile traffic for job search site, Simply Hired, doubled after the launch of a dedicated mobile site (Simply Hired, 2013).

Attitudes towards mobile-enabled recruitment processes

According to USA Today (2013), only about 2 percent of Fortune 500 companies tailor job applications for mobile users despite the fact that 86 percent of job seekers say they would apply for jobs directly from their mobile device if there were an easier way (Simply Hired, 2013). One candidate commented: "I have stopped applying if their mobile technology isn’t up to par. That alone tells you something about the company’s priorities and whether they are savvy" (LinkedIn, 2013b).

Enabling candidates to apply for positions directly from their mobile device can improve the number and quality of applications. Hope Gurion, chief development officer of CareerBuilder, maintains that about 40 percent of job seekers on CareerBuilder who do not use the company’s mobile software abandon the application process (Jibe, 2012).

Mobile recruiting goes further

While Kelton Research found that almost half of their respondents (47 percent) would use their mobile device to apply for jobs; 45 percent would also use their mobile device to track their application status. So we are beginning to see more sophisticated usage of mobile devices within the recruitment process (Jibe, 2012).

Video interviewing goes mobile

In 2013, Sonru launched two apps to enable clients and candidates to interview on the move. Sonru Player enables clients to view candidate interviews from their Sonru account, while Sonru Record enables candidates to record their interview directly from their mobile devices.

All respondents interviewed completed their video interview outside of business hours with 56.3 percent choosing the weekend while the remaining 43.8 percent completing it after work/evening. The majority of respondents (88 percent) completed their interviews from home.

Finally, in relation to "ease of use" of the app, 94 percent of respondents found the Sonru Record app "easy" or "very easy" to use with not a single respondent finding it difficult to use.

Implications for recruitment function

According to Cisco (2013): "By 2016 the number of mobile devices is expected to surpass the world’s population and mobile network connections speeds are expected to increase ninefold."

With the proliferation of devices and the exponential increases to mobile connection speeds, there is no doubt that the mobile explosion will, and currently does, have a profound impact on the recruitment process. The challenge now for recruiters and hiring managers is to provide a seamless experience between an online site and a mobile presence for candidates, not just in terms of browsing but in all stages of the recruitment process from the job seeking and application stages to tracking and the selection process itself.

Joy Redmond
based at Sonru Limited, Wexford, Ireland

References

Cisco (2013), "Visual networking index: global mobile data traffic forecast update", February 6

Educate, Metashift and Reconverse (2012), "Mobile survey", April 16

Jibe (2012), "The state of mobile recruiting", Kelton Research/Jibe, February

LinkedIn (2013a), "Global recruiting trends 2013", LinkedIn Talent Solutions

LinkedIn (2013b), "Mobile recruiting playbook", LinkedIn Talent Solutions, November 19

Seven Step (2013), "2013 Fortune 100 talent acquisition report", February 6

Simply Hired (2013), "Mobile recruiting outlook"

USA Today (2013), "Employers’ old tech hurts hiring as job hunts go mobile", March 4

About the author

Joy Redmond is head of Research at Sonru Knowledge Hub. Her research career began in 1996 as research fellow in DIT where she conducted extensive research on the International expansion of indigenous Irish software companies. For four years she was a lecturer in Research Methodology and E-business in DIT and was course director of the Masters in Business and Entrepreneurship. As senior researcher with Catalyst-MC, she led both qualitative and quantitative projects for clients including eircom, NTL, JC Decaux, McKinsey, Barnardo’s and Bord Glas. Redmond, who has been published widely in both academic and trade publications, joined Sonru in 2010. Joy Redmond can be contacted at: mailto:joy@sonru.com