Smartphones are taking over the world. Seriously.
Almost two-thirds of Americans have a smartphone and nearly 20 percent rely on those devices almost exclusively for internet access to information. Those number continue to rise. That means your job seekers are increasingly accessing your career site, job information and applications via their mobile devices.
43 percent of smartphone owners have used their devices to look up information about a job and 18 percent to submit a job application. If you’re not providing an end-to-end mobile recruiting experience you’re losing out on prospective candidates (Pew Research, US Smartphone US in 2015).
Now with the unemployment rate hovering around 5 percent the market for talent is getting more competitive. Advertising to candidates becomes increasingly important and the hunt for passive candidates intensifies. And with roughly three-fourths of the US workforce considering a job change at any given time, that means (no surprise to any recruiters out there) that most of your candidates are currently employed during their recruiting process with your company.
Imagine the scene. Recruiter Joe is reviewing recent applications in his ATS and after narrowing down to his top prospective candidates, begins reaching out for a quick phone screen with each person. Problem: 75 percent of them (or more depending on the role) are sitting behind desks at their current jobs.
Today, more recruiters are using emails and messaging platforms on the web or social media to connect with job seekers quickly and conveniently. In an increasingly competitive employment market, speed matters.
If you aren’t using text messaging to communicate with job seekers, you’re already behind the curve. And while mass messaging to candidates has been shown to have some downfalls, 1:1 messaging may be another story altogether.
Have you tried using text messaging for recruiting? Tweet us and tell us about your experience.
