ROLE OF SMARTPHONES IN JOB APPLICATIONS December 28, 2015 Mukul Agarwal
As of today, almost 76 million of Indians own a Smartphone. Of which, more than 60% fall in the category of professionals into white collar and blue collar jobs. It is high time for organisations to sync themselves with the trending digital strategy of recruitment and keep up with the world. Here are some facts which talks about the importance of smartphones in while hiring.
Usage of Smartphones for Jobs Majority of the job seekers use android or iPhone devices to look for jobs and nearly 30% of them expecting apps for mobile which enables them to apply through smart phones. On the other hand, for blue collar jobs, more than 50% of job seekers use SMS service to stay updated. Organisations should keep them open to attract both kind of applicant requests.
The Active Job Seekers Generally around 60% of the employees change their jobs in the first five years of their employment. And on an average they have changed 2-3 companies in this time period. These are called Active Job Seekers. These job seekers are using mobile and/or smartphones to search and apply for jobs. In recent past nearly 50% of frequent job changers have used smartphones to contact the potential employer.
The Passive Job Seekers Job seekers who are currently employed, open to browse for new jobs in the market and apply only when a position attract are called Passive Job Seekers. Almost 67% of them use their smartphones to stay updated in search for job. These numbers have increased dramatically in recent past.
Where Job Seekers are applying? Job Applicants prefer to apply through company websites for a job opening. Although, most of the company websites are mobile friendly; but it does not mean that job application form is viewable in mobile. As mentioned in our Guide to a great Career Website, using too many fields and their random placements make readers to zoom, and do extensive scrolling, overall not a good experience for job seekers. 70% of job seekers want minimum possible fields on their job application forms while accepting applications through smartphones. Nearly 20% of these job seekers agreed to not applying for a job if career page is not optimized.
How Smartphones can make life of Recruiters easier? In this technology savvy world, even today almost 40% of organisations prefer applicants to travel and appear for initial rounds of Interview process. This has led to applicants dropping from hiring process totally. If organisations look closely, 97% of the job applicants own a smartphone or smart device. It is time for recruiters to think ahead and involve candidates to attend video interviews through mobile phones, instead of physically attending the process.
This will prove to be a quick way to move relevant candidates in the next stages of process and close positions faster. Moreover, tool like Applicant Tracking System is the best way recruiters can increase their productivity while focusing on mobile based recruitment strategies. Easy workflow, optimized content placement, in-built career website and real time report generations make it possible for managers to handle recruitment even on the go.