18 Stats that Will Make Even the Most Archaic Recruiter Go Mobile

We’ve blogged. We’ve tweeted and retweeted. We’ve ‘webinared’. Here at Red Branch Media, we work with a plethora of HR and recruiting technologies, both established and emerging. While researching for pertinent recruiting and HR information, we often come across some pretty awesome (or surprising) stats. Take for example, mobile technology. Since IBM created the first smartphone (named Simon) in 1992, mobile usage has become increasingly more dynamic. With the appropriate app, you can conduct everything from a mobile video interview to applying for that dream job. But the real surprise isn’t the mobile users, it’s the companies that are unaware of the need to optimize their websites.

With 20 percent of the population owning a smartphone, it seems common sense to adopt a responsive site. Unfortunately, only a quarter of recruiters recognize the growing necessity. Mobility is the present and growing trend in technology—and recruiting. Don’t think your career site needs to be mobile friendly? Think again: searching from a mobile device accounts for 1 billion job searches each month. If that doesn’t make you reconsider optimizing your website, maybe these stats will:

A Mobile World

1.     1 in 5 people have a smartphone. That means 20 percent of the global population can access the internet at any given time.

2.     By 2016, the number of mobile devices will have increased 18x, surpassing the world’s population.

3.     60 percent of mobile users expect a website to load in less than 3 seconds.

4.     39 percent of the U.S. uses tablets.

Job Seekers

1.     68 percent of job seekers ages 18-25 use their mobile devices to search for jobs.

2.     Only 20 percent of companies report having a mobile site; but 72 percent of active candidates use their mobile devices to job search.

3.     94 percent of candidates expect to see current job openings on your career site.

4.     72 percent want a description of company culture.

5.     45 percent of candidates apply for a job using a mobile device.

6.     45 percent of mobile searches are ‘goal-oriented’.

7.     72 percent of job seekers want to receive career opportunity information on their mobile devices.

8.     45 percent of active candidates apply for a job through their mobile device.

Recruiters

1.     If your site is not mobile friendly, you can say goodbye to 46 percent of your visitors.

2.     23 percent of keyword searches that contain the word “job” come from mobile devices.

3.     Only 20 percent of recruiters have a mobile-optimized career site.

4.     Only 5 percent of Fortune 500 companies allow job seekers to apply from a mobile device.

5.     Only 13 percent of recruiters say they have invested enough in mobile recruiting efforts.

6.     1 billion job searches are done each month from a mobile device.

Mobility is clearly the next step in recruiting. Most job seekers will use their mobile devices to search for jobs, whereas less than a quarter of recruiters have mobile-optimized career sites. And Fortune 500 companies? Only 5 percent of their sites are responsive. The discrepancy between them can leave recruiters finding run-of-the-mill candidates versus those who are innovative. With an increasingly mobile-charged world, recruiting efforts have to catch up in order to find the perfect talent.

Where does your company stand? The need to update your career site, in the very least, is pertinent to accessing a greater talent pool. Mobile devices account for 23 percent of “job” searches. However, the discrepancy between the number of mobile devices compared to the number of companies that actually have an optimized career site is surprising. Only 13 percent of recruiters recognize the importance to invest in a mobile site. Are you ready to join that number?

photo credit: Shandi-lee via photopin cc