Does Your Website Work? How to Ensure You Get the Most from Mobile and Career Pages

image_16Does your company’s website work the way you think and hope that it does? If not, you may not be getting as much attention from prospective applicants who are qualified to work at your organization.

In today’s high-tech world, more than 77 percent of job seekers use the Internet as their primary source for finding leads and scouring open positions, explains an infographic from Beyond.com [1]. More than 84 million Americans use a smartphone to do their Internet searches, which means that your company’s recruiting and career pages need to be performing well in order to capture today’s top candidates.

Mobile Friendly

With most adults using smartphones to access the Internet, your website must be mobile friendly. Rather than having a separate mobile and traditional website, consider using a website with a responsive design. A responsively designed website is user friendly across devices and platforms. Responsively designed websites also rank well on all of the major search engines.

Social Media and Websites for Career Searches

According to a survey from Jobvite (featured on LinkHumans), more than 86 percent of job seekers use social media to find job openings [2]. This means that your organization needs to have both a great career page and an active social media account that is geared toward the type of candidates you are seeking. Your social media links should take guests to your career page or a landing page where users can enter search parameters to find current openings.

The Benefits of Responsively Designed Career Pages

If your organization is looking to hire tech-savvy individuals, a well-designed website is the first step to getting them knocking at your door. This is especially true if you are seeking new graduates who are well versed in the use of technology. Candidates who are highly comfortable with technology will use apps and text alerts to let them know when a job opening fitting their needs has been posted. Keeping your career pages optimized and up to date gets you fast results from candidates across the nation. Now is the time to make sure that your website is designed in a way that works well for all users.

[1] http://about.beyond.com/infographics/mobile-job-search-apps

[2] http://linkhumans.com/social-recruiting/jobseekers-social-media-study

How Mobile Can Play a Pivotal Role in Hiring Quality Staff

image_14Mobile recruiting of candidates is the act of engaging potential employees on a mobile device. This method benefits both the recruiter and the candidate by increasing interactions and making communication more convenient. When developing these connections, human resources staff and hiring managers should consider existing apps and technologies that are already made and able to be customized to their company’s specific recruitment needs.

A Growing Trend

The popularity and convenience of mobile smartphones them a powerful tool for recruiting. A 2014 Glassdoor survey of 1,000 employees and job seekers found that 89% of those surveyed use a mobile device during their job search, and 45% use their mobile device to search for jobs at least once each day [1]. Currently, employers who have embraced mobile recruitment have been focused on two trends in particular: mobile-optimization and mobile applications. Making mobile connections can involve using apps, text message delivery systems on a mobile device in order to aid in the recruitment and job search processes.

Shifting Strategies and Expectations

Mobile connections are creating a paradigm shift in the way that human resources managers are recruiting and communicating with candidates. Gone is the formal written expression of interest, and in its place is a brief text exchange between the HR office and the desirable professional. Texts, chats and short video messages are playing an exceptional role in the recruitment of the Millennial generation as they are comfortable in a world of smartphones, iPads and handheld devices. Given that approximately 75% of the workforce will be comprised of Millennials within the next 10 years, it’s important to consider a mobile recruitment strategy in order to not lose out on potential qualified talent [2].

Leveraging Technology for Recruitment

Recruiting great candidates for your job openings through mobile connections means that you no longer have to be tied to your computer, and neither does the candidate. You can text confirmations and send candidates a Google Map link with directions to your office. Creating a responsive design for your website also helps with mobile connections as this design makes it easier for candidates to scroll through your job listings and initiate an application. Mobile video is the greatest tool for recruitment. You can live stream business activities and provide employee testimonials of your company’s success.

As mobile technology advances and becomes more popular, job seekers want to complete every stage of the process, from the search to the application, from their phones and tablets. More companies are embracing the mobile application and finding ways to make the process easier for candidates.

[1] http://www.inc.com/jerome-ternynck/the-past-present-amp-future-of-mobile-recruiting.html

[2] http://hiring.monster.ca/hr/hr-best-practices/recruiting-hiring-advice/attracting-job-candidates/investing-in-mobile-recruiting.aspx

Designing a Recruitment Page that Works Well on Mobile Devices

image_11Recruiting top talent can be difficult in a competitive market. A solid recruitment strategy is very important in attracting the right candidates to your company. As technology continues to evolve, you should keep up with current trends.

With that in mind, it’s important to understand that smartphones have surpassed desktops regarding the primary method individuals use to access the Internet. Mobile platforms – smartphones and tablets – combined to account for 60% of total digital media time spent in 2014 according to research by comScore [1]. In addition, 86% of active candidates surveyed by Kelton Research use their smartphone to begin a job search, and 70% of active candidates want to apply via a mobile device [2].

When designing a recruitment page, the functionality of the website is critical to reaching users who are not only working from a desktop but also from a mobile device.

Utilizing new Technology

Recently, Google has developed an algorithm tailored specifically to mobile devices, making it easier for the user to find websites that are mobile compatible. This new algorithm introduced by Google rewards mobile-friendly websites by providing a boost in rankings, taking precedence over non-mobile optimized websites. In this ripe field of cutting-edge technology, incorporating a mobile- friendly recruitment website gives your company an advantage.

Design Time

Your IT team is your best friend when it comes to designing a website that is functional across a variety of platforms and devices. What works with an iPhone will not always work the same with an Android. However, you do not necessarily have to make two different versions of a website to make it mobile friendly. Small adjustments, such as changing the view from portrait to landscape and decreasing text size, can help make your website accessible from virtually any device.

Reaching out to More Prospects

Millennials, especially, have embraced technology to its fullest. Downloadable apps are available for almost every major website. Imagine a mobile app for your company that would allow prospective recruits to search and apply for jobs, upload their resumes, receive job alerts, join talent groups, and hear firsthand what it’s like to work at your company. As job seekers are using their smartphones more and more in the job search, it is your responsibility as an employer to adapt to these changes in technology. The results will be beneficial to potential employees and your company.

[1] https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Blog/Major-Mobile-Milestones-in-May-Apps-Now-Drive-Half-of-All-Time-Spent-on-Digital

[2] http://thehiringsite.careerbuilder.com/2015/01/19/2015-is-year-of-mobile-recruiting/

Boosting Productivity with Responsive Design on Your Company Website

image_05Did you know that global mobile data usage increased by 80 percent from 2013 to 2014 [1]? It’s no secret that an unattractive company website is bad for business, but in today’s mobile age, even the most attractive design is worthless if it doesn’t look as good on a phone as it does on a computer. Responsive design, the practice of making a website easy to view and navigate across multiple platforms, is becoming critical to productivity, from hiring to employee satisfaction.

Keeping a Modern Image

Any company with an outdated image is going to have a harder time attracting new hires. Having a website that looks and reads perfectly on both desktop and mobile platforms shows new hires that you understand the needs of a changing market and are quick to adapt.

Increasing Exposure

With an increasing number of prospective hires job hunting from mobile platforms, job openings that can’t be viewed and researched from a tablet or smartphone are going to go unnoticed by tech-savvy talent. Maximize your impact by making your careers page and job listings easy to find regardless of the viewing platform. Highlight your company’s mission statement and show off the benefits of working for your company in a concise and attractive manner.

Perfect Forms

Counter-intuitive applications and post-hire forms are a quick way to frustrate good talent into procrastinating or worse, looking elsewhere. Make sure your resume submission system, applications and any forms you need after a job is offered can be viewed and filled out on each platform without frustration. Adding a way to save progress and return to it later is a nice touch that won’t go unnoticed.

Optimize Training and Employee Portals

Poor training and employee portals leave staff as dissatisfied as managers. Tidy and accessible materials, login and upload abilities make productivity possible whether an employee is in the office or waiting at the dentist’s office. As readability and search-friendliness are crucial for responsive design, it may make your materials more intuitive and effective overall.

While responsive design is a way to stand out today, it’s rapidly becoming essential for any company hoping to attract and retain top talent. Invest early, test extensively and watch your HR productivity soar.

[1] http://www.edelmandigital.com/2015/01/16/friday5

Engineering, Designing and Deploying a Career Web Page That’s Accessible From Anywhere on the Employer Website

image_016An increasing number of job seekers are using mobile devices to conduct their employment searches. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly or fully functional on mobile devices, your company may be missing a large segment of the candidate population as 77 percent of job seekers read postings and 45 percent apply for jobs on their smartphones [1]. Consider these tips when engineering your recruitment website.

Setting up a User-friendly Career Web Page

When creating a job recruitment page for your corporate website, take the time to work with the IT team to ensure the page is accessible on a wide variety of devices. What works on an iPhone does not necessarily show up correctly on a Blackberry or Android device. The page should also offer responsive design elements such as fluid images, flexible resolution and compatibility with different Web browsers.

Enhancing Website Accessibility

To make your career page accessible from anywhere on the corporate website, consider the page resolution. If you want to be mobile-friendly without having a separate mobile website, adjust the page format to portrait, rather than landscape. You’ll also need to adjust the text size and make images small, if you include them at all. Your IT department should test the accessibility using a variety of devices to ensure that the recruitment page works as expected from all the links on your website.

Making the Recruitment Page Easy for Job Seekers to Find

During the process of deploying your new recruitment page, ensure that the job listings page is easy to find from anywhere on your website. Simple buttons that direct candidates to the job search tool or application page make it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for. Each page should contain these buttons, including your home page. No animation or videos should be on the job seeking pages as these make the pages load too slowly for mobile device users. If you want to create a video to show users how to apply for a position with your company, embed a link to the video so they can view it from a separate page or window.

[1] http://about.beyond.com/infographics/mobile-job-search-apps

Responsive Site Design

In today’s world, the Internet is one of the most important forms of media – and the share of internet usage on mobile devices such as tablets or smartphones is growing exponentially every year! This year, mobile browsing has the potential of overtaking traditional desktop browsing!

A responsive website responds to the screen size of the device you are viewing the website on. Instead of creating different websites for different devices, a responsive website rearranges the elements to fit any screen.

At Buyer, our interactive specialists can help you develop an engaging, dynamic website optimized for mobile browsing. Contact us today!

Buyer Solutions: Mobile/Responsive Career Sites

Did you know that over 1 billion job searches are done per month on a mobile device? At Buyer Advertising, our custom mobile solutions will help optimize your jobs for candidates on-the-go!

Buyer’s mobile recruiting solutions offer:

  • Cohesive employer branding
  • Compelling custom content
  • Responsive/mobile ready interfaces
  • Geo targeted job search capability
  • Quick apply functionality
  • ATS/social media integration

Learn more by clicking here, and contact us today to discover how our mobile recruiting solutions can help you!

Make Way for Mobile Recruitment

It’s more than Facebook: the upcoming trend known as mobile recruitment allows both you and employees-to-be access to send and receive information about job openings. Simply stated, mobile recruitment uses mobile phone technology to update a variety of social networks and involve potential recruits in a much more personal way, including the ability to ask and receive answers of their own.

One essential element of mobile recruitment is the job seekers’ ability to learn about your company. Smart phone technology is a must. Oftentimes, mobile job recruiters will advertise open positions, and include a link or a way to access special, mobile-optimized landing sites where they can learn about the position in detail through prose, pictures, and multi-media.

Another role mobile recruitment satisfies is the desire for affordability. Instead of job boards, billboards, and costly—through expansive—campaigns, reaching out and responding using mobile devices is an effective, soft-spoken way to reach results. Through mobile technology, recruiters are already seeing results at a much lower cost-per-hire. Get involved!
Until next time,

www.buyeradvertising.com

Mobile Coupons Are Here

These days, it seems like everything is going online. Advertising campaigns, genealogy trees, even farming (we’re looking at you, Facebook). And now: coupons. Designed for touch-enabled smartphones like the Droid and iPhone, mobile coupons work work at the app level by displaying a coupon with a specific code that can be either scanned or entered into an online ordering system. And if the coupon out of date or expired? Too bad—it won’t display anymore.

Mobile coupons seem like a cute idea, but they make a lot of sense, too. It brings chronic coupon clippers up to date with new technology, and leads the bargain-savvy into logging on daily for the latest deals—meaning you’ve got an audience just itching to learn about your products. Mobile coupons are green, too. No paper needed.

Of course, there’s a ways to go before you can shelf your zip-lock bag full of Shaw’s coupons. You won’t find many storefronts (especially in mom and pop operations) that are happy to accept a coupon in the form of a picture on your phone. But the technology is both catchy and catching on: two ingredients needed for future growth. Keep an ear to the rails (and your hand on your smartphone).
www.buyerads.com