There are 1.86 billion smartphone users worldwide, and this number is expected to reach 2.08 billion this year. This growth is not surprising since you can virtually do anything on your mobile devices nowadays – you can shop, chat with friends and family, watch movies, and yes, even apply for jobs.

In fact, according to a Glassdoor survey, 9 in 10 job seekers say they will use their mobile devices to search for jobs. And 44% of job seekers report that they will apply to jobs directly via a mobile device.

Mobile has already become a key aspect of every candidate’s job search. 30% of all Google searches are job-related. This is approximately 300 million searches a month. And according to Google, more searches are now performed on mobile devices than desktop computers.

If mobile is not a top priority for your organization yet, it should be now. Mobile presents a tremendous opportunity for your company to connect and engage top talent. And if you don’t offer the best possible mobile experience, you can count on good candidates leaving your site and applying to your competitors who provide a better experience.

So what makes a mobile candidate experience great? Let’s take a look at four key areas you need to focus on to improve your mobile recruiting strategy and hiring in 2016: 

4 Components Of A Great Mobile Recruiting Strategy

1. Mobile Careers Site

Today’s job seekers on average use 18 different sources when searching for opportunities. Just like digitally savvy consumers, candidates are much more selective and they research even before deciding whether to apply to a company or not. And one of the first places candidates go is a company’s careers site. A LinkedIn survey found that 72% of active candidates and 62% of passive candidates have visited a company site on their mobile devices.

So if your careers site isn’t optimized for mobile, you’ve already made a bad first impression. 40% of job seekers say they will walk away with a more negative opinion of a company if its careers site isn’t mobile-friendly. 65% reported that they will leave a career site if it’s not optimized for mobile devices.

A good mobile careers site should be responsive in design to deliver a consistent, seamless experience across all mobile devices. A great mobile site should also provide all the information candidates may want to know about your company shortened and optimized for a smaller screen (think bite-sized content), with streamlined navigation so they don’t need to scroll through multiple pages to get to what they want.

2. Mobile Sourcing

A good mobile recruiting strategy isn't just about having a mobile-friendly career site, it also means attracting top talent who may not be actively looking for a new job. You want to start engaging and nurturing good candidates early on, so by the time they are ready to make a move you stand out as their employer of choice.  

Recruiters should be active on social media searching and building relationships with top candidates. 49% of recruiters who use social in their efforts have found an improved quality of hire and 33% decrease in time-to-hire.

But mobile sourcing is more than just social media. You should regularly add new blog and video content to get on a candidate’s radar, and engage them in timely communication, targeted email and text campaigns to build your talent pipeline.

3. Mobile Applicant Tracking

Does your current application process ask candidates to retype all their information into your system after they’ve uploaded their resume? If it does, it’s likely too complicated and is driving away your top candidates. This experience can be extremely frustrating for desktop users, let alone candidates who are applying from their mobile devices.

Consider mobile applicant tracking systems that will allow candidates to submit mobile resumes (like their LinkedIn profile), review their applications, and receive communication from your company via mobile. Your applicant tracking system should aim to attract and keep interested candidates engaged, instead of losing them along the application process.

4. Mobile Interviewing

Today’s candidates expect to be communicated immediately, even on the go. And the beauty of mobile recruiting is that it allows your recruiters to screen, interview and share updates with candidates on their mobile devices, when or wherever they are.

And because mobile interviewing is also more convenient for candidates who are within or outside your city (or even country), you increase opportunities to connect with top candidates who might have ruled out your company if they had to travel to your office just for a pre-screen interview. You also save a significant amount of money and time in your hiring process from coordinating in-person interviews and travel arrangements that may not even have been necessary in the first place.

Now, you may be panicking if your recruiting strategy is missing one of these elements, or perhaps your organization doesn’t even have a mobile strategy in place at all. So what’s next? Here are six simple steps to help you get started with building an effective mobile strategy:

6 Steps To Get Started With Your Mobile Recruiting Strategy

1. Conduct Research

Take a look at your site metrics to see how candidates currently interact with your careers site on mobile. What’s the percentage of traffic coming from mobile, and percentage of jobs viewed and applied via mobile? This information will help better understand your mobile candidates and determine the areas where they may be having a poor experience, so you can make the appropriate decisions on what to prioritize and address immediately.

You’ll also want to research your competitors to see what their mobile recruiting strategy looks like. Which areas are you behind and where can you potentially be an innovator with your site?

2. Test Your Mobile Experience

Experience the mobile experience your candidates go through. Test out from different mobile devices to see how easy or difficult it is to view or search content, apply for jobs, sign up for job alerts, etc. on your careers site. Compare your mobile experience against your desktop site to see how effective your content and calls-to-action are.

3. Understand Candidates’ Needs

Once you know where candidates may potentially have a poor experience with, prioritize areas for improvement based on the needs of your target personas. One way you can do this is asking new hires to share feedback on their recent experience and interaction with your careers site.

4. Assess Recruiters’ Needs

Talk with your recruiters to find out what they need to help improve their work. For example, how can they better leverage mobile to engage candidates at career fairs and networking events or to screen and communicate with applicants on the go?

5. Set & Track Your KPIs

Make sure your mobile recruiting strategy includes metrics you can track to measure success over time. You want to monitor the growth of your mobile traffic, percentage of completed mobile applications versus desktop applications, and candidate interaction patterns with your digital properties, just to name a few.

These metrics will help you understand what is and isn’t working, so you can revise your mobile recruiting strategy accordingly to improve your overall recruitment results. 

6. Discuss Your Options

Discuss with your current technology provider to understand their capabilities around your mobile requirements. Research other vendors in the space to see how their solutions compare to your current provider. You’ll want to keep a list of the pros and cons of each vendor as well as their implementation cost, timeline and customer support, for example. 

What other tips do you have for those who are looking to start or revamp their mobile recruiting strategy? Please share your ideas below!

Do you need help with auditing and optimizing your recruiting strategy? Contact me here and let’s chat about how we can help improve your recruiting results.