Mobile Recruiting: Attracting Millennial and Gen Z Talent

A mobile recruiting strategy can be essential to attracting the next generation of talent. According to Pew Internet, 64 percent of Americans own a smartphone and 42 percent own a tablet. Meanwhile, 75 percent of the workforce is likely to be made up of Generation Y (millennials) in the next ten years, reports the Society for Human Resource Management. Although these candidates are heavy smartphone users and are more likely to apply for jobs on mobile devices, just 18 percent of companies in one survey had optimized their job posts for mobile.

Filling open jobs and cultivating new leadership can depend on an effective mobile recruiting strategy. Here are four tips to help you position mobile recruiting as an important part of your talent acquisition plan.

Create a Seamless Mobile User Experience

Candidates appreciate a seamless user experience. Whether they're looking at your open positions, digging into company culture on your careers page, or staying in touch with your recruiters, it's important that each step be optimized for the mobile environment. Start by evaluating your current recruiting process. Where are the bottlenecks and gaps from a mobile perspective? Once each step of the process works across a range of mobile devices, you can focus on optimizing your mobile recruiting on a deeper level.

Use the Right Software to Manage Your Application Process

One of the most frustrating aspects of the mobile recruiting process can be submitting an application. The typical application process requires candidates to fill out long forms, attach cover letters and resumes, and copy/paste URLs from their portfolios. Each of these tasks can be challenging on a mobile touch screen. Some mobile recruiting technology helps companies eliminate these challenges for users. Solutions range from integration with online sites like LinkedIn to the ability to save a resume in your system and use it to automatically apply for new positions. Investing in the right applicant tracking and recruiting software can make the process of mobile optimization relatively painless, while upgrading your candidate experience.

Optimize Your Careers Page for Mobile

Today's millennial and Generation Z talent want to stay informed in real-time. They may be more accustomed to careers pages that are developed with younger audiences and mobile users in mind. This generation of talent often wants to understand your company's bigger message and whether they're a cultural fit—before they apply. Think about whether your careers page takes a deep dive into your company culture. Are you using video, social media, and employee profiles to communicate with candidates in an engaging way? Your employment brand matters with Generation Z and millennial talent, and mobile is one of your most important communication channels.

Update Your Sourcing Strategy for Mobile

Mobile job hunters are searching for opportunities on the go. It's important that your job descriptions are optimized for mobile users (specifically, be succinct.) Your sourcing strategy may also need an update. For example, are you using social media recruiting on networks like Twitter or LinkedIn? Does your careers site make it easy to share jobs on mobile devices? Are your recruiters active in the online communities where your target hires may be spending time, without being too intrusive?

Successful mobile recruiting is an essential part of attracting and building a millennial and Generation Z talent pipeline. Along with optimizing the practical aspects of your application process, it may also be critical to update the way your recruiting team communicates with candidates, develops your employment brand, and sources for positions. The right applicant tracking system can help make many of the back-end functions of mobile optimization appear seamless, helping your HR team to build relationships with today and tomorrow's most promising talent.