Mobile technology is spreading faster than kudzu in America’s cropland

No Compelling Mobile Recruiting From The Usual Suspects

If you scan the web for information about mobile recruiting, what you find is a rehashing of these basic statistics. Indeed, software is eating the world and mobile technology is spreading faster than  kudzu in America’s cropland. Still, no real model for the deployment of mobile technology in talent acquisition has emerged. While enthusiasts engage in cheerleading, sensible use cases seem to be a form of science fiction

Like early early experiments on the world wide web, most mobile recruiting experiments are attempts to mold existing business structures to the new media.  The first job boards were long lists of job openings. Search, the single largest characteristic of web technology, did not make its appearance for many years.

As a mass media in its own right, mobile technology is most suited for handling  quick, simple and repeatable tasks like scrolling through and checking off lists, setting appointments, publishing and consuming short email and other forms of message, indicating pleasure and displeasure, finding and connecting with local services, documenting and logging expenses, getting and following directions and  progress monitoring.

As a result, the initial impact of mobile integration will be to start to cleave recruiting workflow into two major pieces: the quick and convenient and the thoughtful and deliberative. Expanded workflow flexibility will come from process redesign rather than the current strategy of overlaying mobile functionality on existing workflow.

Much of Recruiting workflow is broken. Employment website integration with the Applicant Tracking System creates a disjointed and badly designed experience for the company and the candidate. Heavy investment in Employment Brand is destroyed when a candidate leaves the well designed company website and heads into the ATS ghetto.  Attempts  to paint the company in a positive light are sabotaged by clumsy search results and ineffective process integration. The situation is so extreme that third party organizations devoted to championing the candidate’s right to a respectful process are gaining rapid traction.