Who Benefits Most from Mobile Recruiting Technology?

Mobile recruiting is nothing new.

Ever since smartphones became ubiquitous, which was more than five years ago, busy recruiting professionals have been checking their email on the go, calling candidates after work, and making themselves constantly reachable. Global mobile data traffic grew by 70% last year, and it’s on track to surpass desktop Internet use. Again, not surprising. Mobile phones are much easier to access and afford than computers. The arrival of the smartphone should not be viewed as some magical panacea for the challenges of recruiting. What the universality of the mobile Internet provides, however, is a largely untapped opportunity for recruiting salespeople to ramp up their new business wins – and consequently, bottom lines.

Mobile’s implications for recruiters themselves are obvious but quite frankly, limited. All companies should have a mobile-optimized careers site if they want to attract the holy grail of applicants – qualified individuals who are gainfully employed but justifiably won’t take the risk of browsing jobs while on their company’s network. Many articles have been written about the importance of providing a great mobile interface for candidates and making it easy for them to apply for a job with their smartphone. In this case, for recruiters, mobile is a gateway to more effective communication and better access to a wider variety of candidates. But beyond the convenience for applicants, mobile doesn’t do much for recruiters, who are usually tethered to their desks anyway.

According to Bullhorn’s research, salespeople are the recruiting professionals who are getting maximum value from mobile applicant tracking system (ATS) applications. All this talk of “mobile recruiting” is misplaced. The real opportunity is in “mobile selling.” 100 percent of the recruiting industry salespeople Bullhorn polled who spent more than half their time away from their desks meeting with clients, considered mobile ATS access important, with 86 percent considering it “extremely important.” Granted, we’re talking about specific apps created for smartphones that allow salespeople to enter in and access data on the go – not some shrunken version of a traditional website. The former is efficient. The latter is just eyestrain.

The salespeople have spoken. But why do they consider mobile so critical? What advantages are they seeing?

• Better Client Service — Salespeople can spend more face time with prospects, making personal connections. Mobile ATS apps that are worth using give managers the most up-to-date information before and during meetings so that they can get more things done.
• More Timely and Accurate Data — Personnel can enter in jobs immediately, putting recruiters on the hunt ASAP, increasing the chance of filling new positions. A mobile app allows them to enter in notes right after a meeting when criteria for the perfect candidate are still fresh in their minds.
• Better-Showcased Capabilities — When salespeople can look up candidate inventory on the fly, it makes them look knowledgeable and on top of their game. With Bullhorn’s app, “viewing candidate information” is the most commonly used mobile functionality. The ability to find and review candidate information side-by-side helps to drastically improve efficiency.
• Reporting Access — Sales executives get a window into the business at all times. Mobile recruiting apps allow execs to view key reports that monitor performance and provide insight into the sales pipeline so that they know what’s working and can fix problems as they arise.

As a recruiter, have you found that mobile recruiting technology has helped you to fill positions? Has your company’s mobile-optimized careers site increased the pool of qualified candidates applying for positions? Do you agree that mobile recruiting technology is best suited to staffing salespeople? Or are there other unique benefits for recruiters? We welcome you to share your thoughts below in the comments section.

Source: Who Benefits Most From Mobile Recruiting Technology by Vinda Rao

70%
growth in mobile data traffic last year.

All companies should have a mobile-optimized careers site if they want to attract the holy grail of applicants – qualified individuals who are gainfully employed but justifiably won’t take the risk of browsing jobs while on their company’s network.

All this talk of “mobile recruiting” is misplaced. The real opportunity is in “mobile selling.”