Member Article

Division between Businesses’ Priorities and Candidates’ Expectations Identified

According to existing research*, 45% of job seekers use their mobile devices specifically to search for jobs at least once a day. Despite this, a new survey of HR professionals** by Jobatar, reveals just 12% of companies intend to make mobile recruitment a priority in the next 12 months.

Instead, the top priority for 41% of Jobatar’s respondents is the need to enhance employer brand, something that has become progressively more important as competition for the best candidates has increased. In the last year 48% said the biggest recruitment challenges faced by their company included a lack of skilled candidates, while 27% cited high competition for talent.

Simon Hughes, Jobatar’s Founder, comments: “Companies are struggling to find qualified candidates that also align with internal culture to fill open positions. This is why it has become so important to promote a clear and defined employer brand; strong, accurate branding attracts more of the right candidates to apply.

“Mobile should be seen as being of equal importance to branding when it comes to talent acquisition. Mobile applications can take recruiting to the next level; in today’s mobile society, companies need to be able to promote opportunities to prospects whenever and wherever they are.”

As might be expected, 70% of HR professionals using Social Media for recruitment utilise LinkedIn, though a significant proportion, also rely on Facebook (42%) and Twitter (40%). More surprising is that only 12% cited Social Media as their preferred method of recruitment. Despite 15 million professionals being present on LinkedIn in the UK, half of the respondents would still opt to first place an opening on a job board.

Hughes says: “Despite the speed at which the talent market is evolving, it seems many organisations are behind the trend and are falling back on long-standing methods of recruitment. In order to attract a prospect into a role, especially a younger candidate from the millennial generation, it’s vital to reflect their expectations throughout the recruitment process. Modern methods: social and mobile recruiting as well as video interviewing delivered alongside clear branding and an attractive benefits package must become par for the course if a company wants to remain relevant.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Charlotte .