Dave Thornhill's Blog: The impact of mobile on the recruitment industry

Sales of smartphones have rocketed over the last few years, so much so that thanks to key developments in 3G and 4G technology, mobile internet usage will leapfrog desktop browsing for the first time by the end of 2014.

This is all very well, but what does it mean for recruiters and the way in which they attract candidates?

The answer is an obvious one when you think about it - with over 70% of the country now owning a smartphone, primarily for surfing the web, it perhaps comes as no surprise to learn that more and more people are using their mobile devices to search for jobs.

A few months ago, research from Comscore found that 2.8 million jobseekers in the UK are now using their mobile phone or tablet as part of their job search, with as many as 67% looking every day. Of these, almost half (48%) say they favour their mobile device over their desktop when researching information about the company they are applying to work for.

So it seems that mobile recruitment has not only arrived, it is growing - fast. Yes, it comes at a cost but the investment you make in ensuring your website is mobile compatible and capable of allowing candidates to not only search for jobs but also complete their applications via their mobile device, will pay dividends over the long term.

Of course, it's not just recruiters who need to get in board with mobile. As a supplier to the industry we also need to adapt to meet the changing demands of our customers too. This has prompted us to redevelop our own website to ensure it is fully optimised for those customers who prefer to access the internet using their mobile device - our new site will be launched very soon.

Think of it like this - recruiters seeking to gain an advantage over their competition need to ensure they maximise each and every candidate attraction strategy they have available. Indeed, it has been found that almost 1 in 5 (19%) jobseekers state that their perception of a company - either recruiter or direct employer - is somewhat marred by their inability to apply for an advertised vacancy using their mobile device.

The result of this means those recruiters and employers who abstain from becoming 'mobile friendly' risk alienating and losing out on a rich stream of potential talent, not to mention potentially damaging their own brand as recruiter of choice.

As the number of vacancies continue to rise and the competition between recruiters intensifies this year, those recruiters who invest in their business and embrace the right technology to make themselves easily accessible to the very people they want to reach (i.e. candidates) will be the eventual winners in the war on talent, which is now entering its most critical phase.