The Importance of Going Mobile
Why the transformation? These incredible stats tell the story:
– By the end of 2013, there will be more mobile devices on Earth than people.
– 84 percent of people cannot go one day without cellphones
– 50 percent of Americans sleep with their phones next to them
– 20 percent check their phones every 10 minutes
– Overall global mobile data traffic grew 70 percent just in 2012.
And here’s a final, yet important one: 77 percent of job seekers use mobile job search apps, yet the number of companies that offer an optimized mobile career site isn’t even half that.
What does this mean? More and more job seekers are searching and applying for jobs via mobile devices, yet a great deal of companies have yet to adopt the ‘mobile application lifestyle.’ This means all those organizations are missing out on top talent.
During the recent Recruiting Trends Sourcing and Recruiting Social Summit , Laura Stoker, the Executive Director of Global Training for AIRS, explained why it’s so critical that companies step up the ‘mobile plate.’
She explained the three essential things to communicating with talent in the social and mobile world as: authenticity, transparency and interaction.
Transparency: Social media forces companies to show the reality behind the scenes
Interaction: Interaction with recruiters and decision makers
Authenticity: More realistic understanding of what it’s like to work at a company
“The average smartphone usage group grew 81 percent in 2012,” Stoker said. “That’s huge. Graduates and Millennials are ready to search for jobs on mobile devices. They’re ahead of us and we’re not giving them those opportunities.”
So, let’s say your company read the stats and understands it’s time to go mobile. Exactly how do you do that?
Companies must learn the difference between a mobile site (or M-site) and a mobile app; and then decide which one (or both) to implement. An infographic from MGD Advertising offers some great advice on the two.
A mobile site is accessed through browsing (internet), has a static, navigational user interface and offers somewhat limited features. An app is accessed by downloading and installing it on a device (doesn’t require internet to use), has an active user interface and can use your phone’s features, e.g. camera, location-based services, etc.
Creating a company M-site isn’t as expensive as creating some apps can be, yet mobile apps usually offer faster speeds for users than M-sites. Users tend to spend more time each day on mobile apps versus browsing on mobile websites, yet more than half (63 percent) of users search the web via a mobile browser; and, search is a huge component when attracting talent.
As the infographic points out, there is no right answer to which type of mobile option a company adopts, but the important thing is to adopt one. Providing a mobile option can mean the difference between your company securing the best talent and that candidate working for the competition.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to build M-sites and mobile apps, below are a few resources Stoker provided:
M-site builders
- Bmobilized
- Mobeezo
- Octimobi
- Mobiliz Today
Software to Build an App
- Appmaker
- The App Builder
- iBuildApp
- Shoutem
Mobile Search and Geotagging Apps
- Bing for Mobile
- Kick Vox
- Yandex
Mobile Apps for Sourcing
- Scribd
- DocStoc
- About.me