A Guide to Frictionless Mobile Recruiting

Mobile devices have displaced the desktop as the primary means to access the web and interact with the world at large. As early as 2012, 80% of people didn’t leave home without their mobile device, according to a research report from Google. Mobility—in all its various forms—has transformed how we interact with each other and the digital world. 

For those of us in the talent acquisition space the rise of mobile is driving the need for a mobile-friendly candidate experience. According to Kelton Research, an astounding 86% of active candidates begin their job search from a smartphone. That means that the vast majority of candidates will have their first interaction with your company over a mobile device. The question is: are you putting your best mobile foot forward?

As widespread mobile adoption continues to skyrocket, candidate expectations of the mobile experience have totally shifted. Mobility introduces tremendous complexity. With so many different smartphones and tablets available across a myriad of mobile platforms, plus the mobile web, native apps, and hybrid apps to consider, how do you deliver a truly mobile-friendly candidate experience? Replicating an existing web-based career site or strategy across mobile simply won’t work. You need to dedicate time and resources to the mobile candidate experience, and take user behavior into consideration when planning your mobile recruiting strategy.

1. Search for something
2. View results
3. Take an action based on the results

These steps are common in the talent acquisition space. Think of a prospective candidate’s actions on your mobile career site: they search for a job, find some possibilities (or not), and then either apply or move on. With that in mind, let’s look at what that means for your career site and the best practices for building a stellar mobile experience.

Job Searching on a Mobile Device

When mobile users search for a job they expect immediate and relevant results. That means there cannot be a lot of clicks, swipes, or other interactions required to get to what they want to see—the jobs. Not only does your career site need to be mobile optimized, it needs to be mobile search optimized. Candidates are far more engaged when they interact with your site on a mobile device. It’s a personal experience and you need to make it easy for them to find and engage with the information they want.

By some estimates nearly half of job seekers today use mobile devices to search for jobs. Jobvite ensures your ability to connect with these modern applicants, regardless of where they are or what mobile platform they use. We help you extend your brand seamlessly and easily to mobile devices and maintain a unified employment brand across all platforms, making it easy for candidates to find what your company offers.

How Candidates Interact with your Content

Think about your own experience on mobile devices. If you have to zoom in to view content or change the device orientation from portrait to landscape frequently are you going to stick around?  It’s not just about inconvenience. Research from Harris Interactive found that when a user has a bad experience viewing a site on a mobile device it negatively impacts their perception of your entire brand. And it’s not just about the initial impression. Information on jobs needs to be displayed in a simple, elegant, and compelling fashion. Unlike the desktop experience, less is more on mobile. Resist the urge to cram lots of information into a small interface window. Concentrate on what the candidate needs to see: job title, location, and compensation band.

Today’s job searchers expect companies to have intentionally designed a functional mobile career site. Without one you risk alienating, frustrating, and deterring potentially high-quality prospects.

One Click to Apply

The most critical element to get right on your mobile careers site? Make sure it only takes one click to apply for a job. Don’t force your candidates to create an account or username and passwords. Every step you add to the apply process is an obstacle that increases the chances your candidate will abandon your site. Make it easy for candidates to apply for jobs from their mobile device and be flexible about accepting resumes, LinkedIn profiles, or other methods for candidate applications.

Your apply process should build off the capabilities already available on job seekers’ devices—such as the ability to apply through social profiles, or access resumes and other key documents through cloud-based storage. By leveraging technology, like Jobvite’s mobile career website solution, you can make it easy for candidates to apply in one click from phones or tablets.

Measure and Refine Your Mobile Experience

It’s crucial to monitor key KPIs, such as unique visits, searches, and applies and look for data that shows there are obstacles in the experience. And the mobile candidate experience must extend past the recruitment phase to onboarding your new employee. The natural extension of mobile centric recruiting is mobile centric onboarding. The initial touch points for a new hire should be just as warm and welcoming on a mobile device as they are on a desktop. Don’t turn off a new hire or a prospective candidate by delivering a clumsy mobile experience.

Creating a great mobile experience for your candidates is a job that’s never really done. You will have to continually monitor and optimize the mobile experience you are delivering to your candidates. The mobile candidate experience is vital to a successful recruiting strategy. Take a close look at the experience you’re delivering to candidates and make sure your mobile career site is simple, easy to use, and ready to attract top talent.