Be Early in Your Mobile Job Hunt
According to the website MediaBistro.com, “… more job seekers are looking for new opportunities on mobile devices than a desktop. Plus, mobile users are 34 percent more likely to go onto their site between 6 and 10 a.m. compared to going onto their desktop. The survey also revealed mobile users are more likely to hop online to look for a new role over the weekend compared to desktop users. And mobile users check out 20 percent more jobs each week than desktop users.”
Those facts are based on a study by TheLadders. “The job-search evolution from the web to mobile devices could be as significant as the transition from print classifieds to online job postings,” says TheLadders CEO & co-founder Alex Douzet.
According to U.S. News & World Report, Douzet may be on to something. The International Data Corporation predicts that by 2015, there will be more consumers in the U.S. who are accessing the Internet via mobile devices than through PCs. That’s less than a year away. It’s easy to see why mobile may take the lead as the top technology for job seekers and employers alike. It offers convenience, immediacy and simplification to the hiring process.
One of the key elements of mobile job hunting is it allows you to pounce quickly – and speed is important in being considered for an open position. As Amanda Augustine, job search expert at TheLadders, says in the U.S. News article, you need to apply to a job within 72 hours after it has been posted online – after that, the chances of your application even being opened drops by 50 percent.
Augustine adds, “If you find a job you’re qualified for and interested in, don’t wait. Leverage mobile technology to actively evaluate and pursue relevant job listings the moment they become available.” The early bird does get the worm in this instance.
The article offers further advice on going mobile during the job-hunting process. It says, “If you’re hesitating to use mobile as part of your job-search strategy, it may be because you’re not familiar with the changes that have taken place in recruitment. Long-gone are the days when recruiting was confined to an office. A 2013 Jobvite study found that 93 percent of recruiters are likely to look at a candidate’s social media presence as part of the vetting process. That’s up from 78 percent just five years ago.”
Another advantage to mobile job searching is it’s private. There’s no fear of being found out by using your employer’s network to apply for work elsewhere or having co-workers discover your outside employment interests. As the U.S. News article states, ” … thanks to mobile technology, professionals can maintain a constant level of job-search activity from virtually anywhere – and they should.”
Recruiters need to make sure they stay ahead of the curve on this issue as well. Michael Marlatt, a sourcing consultant for Microsoft, in an interview at HCareers.com, says it’s a useful tool because it enables employers to take advantage of mobile marketing practices such as delivering text or content via a mobile app, or mobile web. “Mobile recruitment is really our ability to recruit and engage possible candidates with a mobile device,” he adds.
With mobile recruiting, he continues, you’ve got a “push and pull.” In one regard, it allows you to “push out” information regarding a new job opening or career fair, but in another regard, it creates a way to “pull in” and engage people that are interested in a product or service, he says.