In our continually on-the-go society, where immediacy is becoming the norm, recruiting by cell phone is developing at light speed. Is this just a trend or a required evolution?
35% of Quebecers own an Internet-enabled smart phone. 90% of text messages are read in less than three minutes. 60% of Canadians receive at least one SMS alert a month. In light of these various statistics, Martin Leclerc, Mobile Strategy Manager at Trancontinental Interactive, reached the conclusion that cell phones are “the right tool” for recruiting new employees.
“Uses are evolving. People are now ready to apply for jobs via their phone,” affirms Leclerc. “We have fusional relationships with our cell phones. They are personal tools that we are very attached to and do not easily lend. Changing jobs is also an intimate process,” he continues. “Cell phones are therefore the most relevant channel for establishing contact with people’s intimacy,” he explains, convinced that recruiters must turn to the cell phone, and that this is an unavoidable evolution.
Proof by example
Employment agency Télé-Ressources took the plunge in May. It launched a mobile* version of its site, which offers a personalized job alert via text message service. “We need to be able to reach candidates quickly and especially everywhere,” emphasizes Johanne Berry, President of Tele-Ressources. She praises the “instantaneous nature” of the new process and the “speed of interaction with candidates.” “We recruit for a lot of temp jobs thanks to the text messages we send,” she says.
Mobile recruiting is not just about sending targeted text messages, though. The main challenge for recruiters is to provide cell phone users with a user-friendly interface adapted to the technologies they use, and building their loyalty through a global browsing environment. Concretely, this means that candidates must be able to quickly scan the ads and search for a specific job, in order to ultimately apply directly from their phone.
A long-term investment
In this light, Leclerc argues for the deployment of mobile sites. “iPhone, BlackBerry and Android applications are only for specific communities, while a mobile site can be accessed by all smart phone users,” he explains. The cost of such a site varies from $15,000 to $40,000 depending on the functionalities. “It’s definitely an investment,” admits the head of Transcontinental Interactive. “You can’t just think about return on investment—you have to think long term. A mobile site provides a positive image of the company, for example.”
Above and beyond these technical considerations, the launch of a mobile website must be part of global marketing communications plan. “The site needs to be relevant and make good use of the medium to attract the right candidates,” advises Johanne Berry, who recommends professional communities. “That requires time and a lot of investment, but it’s the only way to attract active, passive or undecided job hunters to incite them to sign up for job alerts.”