Mobile Recruiting

Mobile recruiting refers to the recruitment of personnel via mobile devices. With mobile recruiting, applicants and personnel can contact each other with the help of smartphones and tablets. The aim is to reach applicants who are particularly interested in the media and the Internet and to simplify the application process with the support of new media.

Mobile recruiting can be seen as a special form of e-recruiting that moves away from print advertisements and towards online job exchanges, social media and mobile in order to attract skilled workers and make it possible to contact them in a situation- and context-related manner. Mobile recruiting is based to a certain extent on the push principle from advertising, in which companies specifically target their clients and do not wait until they become active (pull principle).

General information

Since 2011, the use of mobile devices has increased annually. The use of smartphones and tablets for various purposes is widespread, especially among younger people. Two of these purposes are the acquisition of information about a potential employer and the sending of application-relevant information, partly also the sending of the entire application. More and more users are using the mobile phone for career purposes and get information about an employer while on the move, for example.

Mobile recruiting aims to give applicants the opportunity to contact each other when using their mobile devices. The main focus is on applicants who know how to use new media. The clientele is internet-, media- and computer-orientated and especially companies that are active in these areas are looking for applicants who are already segmented by the choice of medium. Mostly potential employees for IT departments, e-commerce or online marketing are addressed.

Against the background of the generally propagated shortage of skilled workers or the so-called "war of talents", mobile recruiting for certain companies is an answer to the questions of how to find suitable applicants and how companies have to position themselves if they want to anticipate the current trends of multimedia usage scenarios - it is also about employer branding. Large companies such as Accenture, Otto, Fresenius and Telekom are increasingly using mobile strategies to attract skilled workers and present themselves as a modern company in the applicant market.

How Mobile Recruiting works

In order to address applicants in a targeted manner, companies can pursue various measures which are geared to the size of the company and the objectives of personnel management. This approach should be well thought out and established as a separate strategy. Only if mobile recruiting fits the company, the portfolio and the candidate target group and complements other interaction options such as a career website can the candidate be expected to have appropriate interaction rates.

• Mobile optimization of career sites: In order to address potential applicants, the website should also be readable on the small displays of smartphones and tablets. This can be ensured through responsive websites or mobile websites.

• Mobile job advertisements: Users of mobile devices receive job advertisements when they browse or use certain apps. Segmentation of target groups is absolutely necessary in order to avoid wastage. A frequently used feature in this context is the integration of QR-codes, which for example redirect to the mobile-optimized career page of the company. These can of course also be used in print ads - keyword mobile tagging.

• Mobile application processes: In order to simplify the interaction between the applicants, application processes can be implemented that are fully geared to mobile use. As a rule, it is unlikely that users will create their application documents on a smartphone or tablet, but many users could take advantage of the possibility of sending them via mobile device. CV parsing should also be mentioned here: Importing the application documents using portals such as Xing and LinkedIn. In this way, CVs, cover letters and certificates can be inserted directly into the career website without having to fill out forms in a lot of time. Career apps also belong to this area. They can represent a reduced version of an assessment center in which, for example, questions have to be answered.

• Mobile recruiting can also be supplemented by certain interaction options: Applicants can receive SMS messages to their device when a new job advertisement is online. It is also possible to subscribe to RSS feeds, blogs or microblogs to keep applicants up to date.

Significance for Mobile Marketing

A mobile recruitment strategy can be seen as an opportunity to target specific groups of applicants and present themselves as a digital, dynamic and innovative company. The selection of the medium is presorted, because applicants who are regarded as digital natives become the focus of attention. It is imperative that the technical solutions work, otherwise applicants could contact competitors.

Equally important is the selection of the right information to be provided to applicants. A video of a trainee can provide important insights into the company. A poorly implemented mobile strategy can also lead to negative branding effects. It is important to remain authentic and not to lose sight of the actual goal of this channel. If too much mobile marketing is mixed with mobile recruiting, employer branding can often be questionable from the point of view of the applicants. In addition, this approach should complement other ways of applying, as the number of users is still low.

Mobile recruiting can reduce the effort involved in the application process, for example, the costs per applicant and the administrative effort in the form of application documents from the numerous applicants. One consequence, however, is that HR departments in the new media have to react relatively quickly. As a rule, applicants who have chosen this fast and uncomplicated way except the HR departments to react quickly. Mobile recruiting is therefore not a matter of course, but involves different efforts and rework, even though the technical solutions simplify many processes.