We all know that technology has its pros and its cons. And while new tools and platforms have changed the way candidates search for jobs and employers search for candidates, many are still in their early stages and must be used with caution and only after thorough research. Take mobile, for example. Much like your application process, you should walk through your own mobile careers site on several devices to test the functionality and usability. It wouldn’t hurt to test out other companies’ mobile sites, as well, to see where yours reigns supreme and where you could use some work to really optimize the mobile recruiting process.
Evaluating Your Careers Site from a Mobile Recruiting Perspective
Whether you’ve recently optimized your careers site or are currently working through it, it’s important to be aware of the candidate experience from every angle at the process level. How easy is it to navigate? Are features available on all devices? What is your ultimate goal (applications via mobile, capturing candidate information or communicating your employer brand in hopes of receiving applications online), and is it feasible? After all, what’s the point of “optimizing” your careers site for mobile recruiting if users still aren’t able to access what they’re looking for and/or you’re not gaining new leads?
3 Small but Serious Mobile Recruiting Fails
There are a wide variety of issues when it comes to mobile technology and mobile recruiting. And while all should be addressed, here are a few that are pretty straight forward, can be tested fairly quickly and may impact your success.
- Recruitment video won’t play. Video is a great tool for showing potential candidates what your company is all about. It’s really the next best thing to exploring your office and meeting your team in person. Additionally, mobile video viewing is on the rise, so it only makes sense for your recruitment videos to be available for those who aren’t sitting at a computer. Unfortunately, many companies don’t realize their videos aren’t compatible with mobile, causing issues for job seekers who won’t take the time to watch it from a different device. Make sure your videos are easily viewed on all devices to get the most traction with your mobile recruiting efforts.
- Social share buttons missing. Sometimes, the mobile version of a site causes the social sharing buttons to appear at the bottom of a page instead of the side (depending on the platform your site is hosted on, etc…). This is not a problem. What is a problem is when the buttons are cut off or completely nonexistent. While the current job seeker is able to view your content surrounding the company or a particular job, lack of social sharing makes it practically impossible to pass the information along to their networks when on a mobile device. Make sure these are working on all browsers and operating systems to maximize the potential of referrals.
- Screen must be manipulated. The variety of screen sizes on mobile devices is pretty extensive, and it can be a real pain for on-the-go job seekers to try and zoom in or out, scroll and readjust when viewing your mobile careers site. Visit your optimized site on iPhones, iPads, Android smartphones and tablets and Blackberry devices, as well as a few feature phones to see what the experience is like. Any extra work for the job seeker is a pretty good deterrent and could cost you quality talent.
Image: Jeremy Keith/Flickr
Author: Autumn McReynolds
Autumn McReynolds is a master of communication, and with two years in the recruiting industry and over five years of experience in journalism and content creation, she was thrilled to take her career in a new direction as a Blogger and Content Strategist focused on talent acquisition in the digital age. In addition to writing, Autumn spends her time managing social media accounts for business and pleasure. Follow her on Twitter @AutumnMcRey.
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