Mobile recruiting empowers modern businesses to attract and engage candidates using mobile technology. It can include mobile recruiting apps, social recruiting, mobile career sites, and SMS-based recruiting. Here’s what HR professionals need to know about mobile recruiting this 2022 and beyond.
Understanding Mobile Recruitment
The traditional strategy requires a company to use its network of recruiters, talent scouts, and headhunters to pick suitable candidates for an open position. Unfortunately, a business can spend anywhere between $3,000 and $5,000 for every vacancy it fills. The cost could be higher in some industries.
Not only is non-digital recruiting more expensive, but it is also tedious. The legwork and paperwork can strain a company with a small HR staff. It can lead to burnout, which the World Health Organization considers an occupational phenomenon. If not handled properly, HR professionals can quit their jobs and put the firm’s recruiting and hiring program at a standstill.
Digitally transforming recruiting and hiring processes can solve many issues, including hiring and recruiting costs, work-related stress, and poor time management. A business no longer has to rely on headhunters, talent scouts, and third-party recruiters because its HR team can handle everything from in front of their computer screens.
Unfortunately, limiting company hiring strategies to desktop-based digital solutions will not produce ideal outcomes. Adding mobile technology to hiring and recruiting can improve the firm’s chances of reaching out and engaging high-quality candidates.
Here’s why.
According to Statista, there are more than 6.64 billion smartphone users globally, accounting for almost 84% of the world’s population. If one also counts the number of people with ordinary mobile phones, the figure rockets to 7.26 billion. The Swedish telecommunications giant, Ericsson, predicts 7.33 billion people with smartphones and 7.49 billion mobile phone users by 2025.
Mobile connections are also staggering, even surpassing the current global population. A GSMA real-time data revealed that more than 10.47 billion mobile connections exist worldwide, eclipsing the world population by 2.55 billion.
CNBC also reported that more than seven out of ten internet users will use their smartphones for web-based applications by 2025. The US has the highest smartphone penetration at 81.6%, with the UK, Germany, France, and South Korea completing the top five.
It is not surprising to learn that more people use their mobile devices to access the internet. These technologies are compact and lightweight, allowing people to watch videos, read news, and connect with everyone wherever they are.
Connectivity is never a problem, either. The fifth generation of mobile internet technology empowers internet users to open web pages, download and upload content, and perform transactions instantly.
Mobile social media usage is also on the rise. According to Statista, nine out of ten (89.5%) people in the US use their mobile phones to access social media apps.
Moreover, more than 4.48 billion people use social media apps worldwide, with the average person having at least six social media app platforms. Facebook leads with more than 2.9 billion active users monthly, followed by YouTube with 2.3 billion.
Companies can leverage this trend to hunt for the best talents worldwide. They can use a responsive and mobile-optimized website to post their vacancies on career sites.
A business can also post job openings on social media platforms, increasing its reach exponentially. These measures define mobile recruiting.
Why Companies Should Include Mobile Recruitment in their Strategies
Businesses often find it challenging to recruit the best talent. Not only are traditional recruitment methods costly, but they require more time and effort, too. Using mobile technologies to recruit and hire the right people for the job makes perfect sense for a company that wants to streamline its recruiting and hiring strategies and make them more effective.
Remote Recruitment and Hiring Processes
One of the most significant advantages of mobile recruiting is improved recruiting and hiring productivity. HR professionals can manage the recruiting and hiring process from anywhere. They do not have to log into a desktop computer to post a job opening, schedule an interview, communicate with a candidate, and provide feedback to employers and applicants.
Recruiters and hiring managers only need a mobile device to perform recruit-and-hire activities without leaving the house. They might be on a holiday vacation, and HR professionals will never be negligent of their duties and responsibilities.
Widens Target Audience
More than 6.64 billion people are smartphone users, and 4.48 billion people have mobile social media accounts. A business can widen its target audience using mobile technologies to recruit and hire the best applicants.
Business leaders must recognize that 73% of job seekers are passive, not actively seeking better opportunities but are open to sending an application if one is present. They might be too busy with their work, preventing them from searching career sites and job boards. However, they always use their smartphones daily, mostly to connect with others on social media.
Mobile recruitment strategies that use mobile devices can reach these passive employment seekers. The best part is that they have the competencies and right attitude for the position, which a company can exploit to its advantage.
Improves Candidate Engagement
A candidate expects an answer for every application he sends to employers. Job seekers also want companies to provide a more meaningful experience. It can be an applicant’s feedback or other communication through various media.
Recruiters do not need to call a candidate about the progress of his application. They can send an email, instant message, SMS, or direct message on the applicant’s social media account.
Businesses must realize that a positive candidate experience is essential to improve their brand image. After all, people are more connected on social media now than ever before.
A candidate will not hesitate to spread his negative experience to social media contacts, which can be disastrous for a budding company.
Enhances Brand Recognition and Perception
Glassdoor says people read about six reviews to form an opinion about an organization, with 69% of them declining an offer from a company with a less-than-positive reputation. A candidate will never bother sending an application to these firms.
In general, a positive candidate experience builds company credibility and trustworthiness and improves brand recall and recognition. People will want to align themselves with an organization that strives to create a worthwhile experience for everyone who sends an application to them.
People research the company before they send any application. If the company has negative reviews or people with a less-than-pleasant experience, there is a good chance no candidate will want to apply for a vacancy. The firm loses its opportunity to attract high-quality, best-fitting talents.
Mobile Recruitment Tactics
Recruiting the best candidate for any post is more straightforward and convenient with mobile technologies. Human resource professionals can create a strategy or solution to attract and recruit only highly qualified candidates. They can observe any or all of the following mobile recruiting tactics.
Mobile Job Boards
A company can take advantage of mobile job boards by posting any vacancy. This recruiting solution is effective because people visit these mobile-friendly websites with the sole purpose of looking for an employment opportunity.
Different companies can post hundreds of vacancies on a single job board. Other platforms connect with career sites to make the work employment search process more extensive. It is free to post on some websites, although other sites might charge a fee.
Mobile Career Sites
One advantage of this mobile recruitment and hiring solution over other strategies is its focus on candidate career advancement.
These mobile apps not only allow companies to post employment opportunities to recruit the best. They also contain blogs, news, and other materials a candidate will find valuable in advancing his career.
Although a career site is not a dedicated ‘recruit-and-hire’ solution, companies can increase their exposure on the platform.
Text-based Recruitment
Not everyone has an internet-capable phone. Around 620 million people use an ordinary handphone. Although these devices cannot browse the web and access internet-based applications, companies can still communicate with these technologies through a text messaging solution.
PeopleHum says close to three-fourths (73%) of applicants prefer text recruiting over email methods. A recruiting specialist can frame their text messages to appeal to a candidate and provide a positive candidate experience.
It would also help HR professionals to consider the most appropriate time to send the text message to a prospective candidate. About 14% of people find it unprofessional for recruiters to send them messages outside office hours.
Text recruiting is also beneficial in reminding a candidate of his interview schedule and keeping him updated on the mobile recruitment process. Recruiters can also refine their hiring process by using text messaging as a candidate assessment tool and tracking recruiting progress.
Social Media Recruiting
As mentioned, close to four and a half billion people connect on social media platforms. Each candidate can have at least six social media apps on a single device. Facebook has 2.895 billion active users monthly, while YouTube has 2.291 billion. WhatsApp is a close third with two billion, Instagram with 1.393 billion, and WeChat with 1.251 billion.
Unsurprisingly, close to 84% of companies use social media recruiting to improve their chances of hiring the best talent. Nine percent of firms intend to use social media to recruit and hire the perfect fit for their openings.
These companies understand the growing importance of social media apps in everyday life. Employers recognize that 79% of people use social media platforms to look for employment opportunities.
The process of looking for work is more convenient with social media apps. People can share a vacant post, and everyone in their social network can choose to send an application or recommend it to an acquaintance.
Social media recruiting is one of the most effective techniques to recruit and hire the best candidate.
A 2020 Harris poll showed that close to seven out of ten (67%) companies use social media apps to search for qualified candidates. Seventy percent of them make their recruiting decisions based on the candidate’s social media profile.
One out of five employers also says they will not consider someone for a job if he does not have a social media presence. More than half of hiring decision-makers (54%) also rule out any candidate with social media content they do not agree with.
Mobile Recruitment Trends for 2022
Human resource management experts say mobile recruiting will continue to flourish from 2022 and beyond. Companies can leverage mobile technology updates to keep them ahead of the competition. Here are some mobile recruiting trends HR professionals might want to spend some time appreciating.
Continued Growth of Mobile Devices and Usage
Following Ericsson’s prediction, the world might see more than 7.5 billion smartphones in three years. This technology’s usage will only continue to grow because of changes occurring in the telecommunications industry. No longer are these mobile devices a status symbol, meant only for the affluent. Ordinary people can also get a handset with fundamental features within their budgets.
Smartphone and tablet technologies continue to evolve. Hence, companies must also make their websites and social media accounts more responsive and optimized for mobile devices. They can only leverage the growing internet-enabled device usage if businesses take concrete steps to improve their digital presence.
Social Media Recruiting will be More Prominent
A candidate is more likely to look for an employment opportunity on social media than other platforms, including job boards and career sites. The search is more productive if the candidate has an extensive social network, relying on contacts to refer him to job openings.
It is not surprising that more than 95% of modern businesses will use social media to recruit the best talents for their respective vacancies. Many organizations will also use social media elements to determine a candidate’s suitability for the position, such as social media profile, social media extent, and social media content.
Related: Mobile Recruiting: Is Mobile Recruitment the HR Secret 2022?
Gen Zers Enter the Workforce
Beginning 2020, the first of the Centennials or Gen Zers are already members of the productive workforce. This 2020, recruiters can expect their numbers to grow. Social psychologists describe Gen Zers as highly proficient in social media and internet applications. They are the people who can master all the features on a newly-released mobile device within seconds and without reading the manual.
Mobile recruiting technologies make sense for this generation because they grew up in this environment. They are more comfortable with digital information than paper-based documents.
Recruiters Prioritize Passive Candidates
Seventy-three out of a hundred candidates are not actively looking for jobs. However, it does not mean they are not ready to jump ship if there is an opportunity. A passive candidate performs his current work with due diligence, which prevents him from making time to actively look for better employment options.
Recruiting professionals recognize the value of passive candidates. Their dedication to their work and their experience-backed competencies can make these candidates the ideal fit for a beginning organization. That is why recruiters will shift their focus from active seekers to passive candidates. Mobile recruiting offers employers the best chances of getting the ideal candidate.
HireNest utilizes the most recent technologies in helping small to large organizations hire the best talents that will help them compete in the ever-changing business landscape.
Conclusion
Mobile recruiting is one of the most effective ways for organizations to attract, engage, recruit, and hire the best possible talent for job openings. It hinges on the world’s preoccupation with mobile devices because of these technologies’ versatility, convenience, and performance.
Mobile technologies can be more powerful than traditional desktop computers, giving recruiters every opportunity to improve their recruiting process and hiring strategy. It would be best for employers to integrate a mobile recruiting program starting this 2022.
FAQs
What is mobile recruiting?
This recruitment strategy hinges on existing mobile technologies. Employers post job openings on their websites and other platforms optimized for mobile devices to attract and engage applicants.
What is social media recruiting?
Social media recruiting is a strategy that uses social media platforms for attracting, engaging, and converting potential candidates into job applicants.
What types of media will be used for recruiting?
Recruiters have access to leading social media platforms and can also use mobile job boards, career sites, and similar apps as well as short messaging services, mobile-based emails, and chats.
