#GotTalent: Leveraging mobile recruiting strategies

Ragan Cheney, vice president and senior HR consultant at Associated Financial Group,

As unemployment ratings improve and the hiring pendulum begins to swing back to pre-recession hiring demands, employers of all sizes are having to rethink their recruiting and hiring strategies. This is compounded by the changing workplace demographics as Baby Boomers plan for retirement and Millennials enter the workforce. As a result, employers are searching for effective strategies to recruit, engage, and retain their organization’s most valuable resource — employees.

Employer strategies should involve:

  • Being proactive;
  • Delivering a strong corporate brand;
  • Utilizing technology efficiently;
  • Building and leveraging the right relationships; and
  • Knowing how to manage your candidate pool (from engaging and screening to closing your candidates).

Candidate-driven market

The biannual employment landscape survey issued by one of the largest global search firms, MRINetwork recruiters, reveals that in 2015 employers will need to review their recruitment and retention strategies from the top down to remain attractive to employees, contract workers, and candidates. In fact, the survey found 83% of recruiters surveyed acknowledged it is once again a “candidate-driven market.”

Candidates now hold the power in today’s recruiting market as opposed to the less powerful positions they held during the recent job recession. This means as employment demographics change, it will once again become increasingly difficult for employers to fill open positions with top talent. This is especially true for open positions in the executive, managerial, and professional sectors. Candidates are the buyers and employers are once again sellers. 

Mobile recruiting strategies

In addition to recognizing it is a candidate driven market, employers must embrace the fact that the world of recruiting has changed significantly in the last three to five years. Candidates are savvy buyers. They know their worth and now more than ever expect to be sold on a position. This often means selling your open position in a forum where your candidates are spending a great deal of their spare time — on their mobile devices. 

Professionals says they've used a mobile device to:

Source: LinkedIn Talent Blog

According to a recent LinkedIn survey, 90% of candidates start their job search using a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet.

 

 

 

With this change, job postings must not only be compelling, but they must also be presented in a way that enables the mobile candidate to review company information, job descriptions, and key attributes about the environment and benefits in less than two clicks.

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It is estimated candidates only spend 20–30 seconds reviewing a job description. Job descriptions must be compelling to grab their attention. They also want to be able to apply for positions using their mobile devices. They do not want to wait to return to their home computers to complete an application, which on average takes 45 minutes to complete.

It is all about how many clicks it takes to review and upload their profile, and how much time it takes to wait for the prospective employer to confirm their profile has been received. This is really no different than the customer experience we have with any other online company. As buyers, candidates expect the same response time.

The trend is unmistakable. Mobile recruiting is here to stay, and employers need to proactively evaluate how to leverage this technology in ways that match their needs, budgets, and corporate strategies. The most successful mobile strategies involve:

  • Preparing a compelling company overview and job description.
  • Limiting the number of clicks it takes a candidate to review the posting and upload their profile.
  • Forgoing requiring a resume — I always say, “People are perfect at two times in their life — once when they are born and again when they write their resume.” You can screen the candidate more thoroughly during the interview process. 
  • Leveraging social networks to source candidates. Professional profiles on sites such as LinkedIn are a good starting point as it is difficult (not impossible) to misrepresent your professional profile online without someone calling you out on it.
  • Using technology tools to communicate with candidates. The chosen tool should allow you to notify candidates when their profile is received, schedule interviews, and even provide directions to the interview.
  • Providing links to testimonials and even videos regarding real life examples of why someone would want to work for the company. 

Recruiting top talent is a challenge every employer faces as the economy improves and technology redefines our tactics. This is why we say, “The only constant is change.” Make sure to keep up with this ever-changing landscape.

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