Why Aren’t You Making It Easy For Me To Apply For Your Jobs?

mobilephone-frustrationAs a shopper have you ever seen an advert for a great deal on a product the day after it finished? How annoying is that!

Or have you ever seen an advert for a great deal on a product but you can’t make a purchase because you can’t access the website? How annoying is that as well!

But wait a minute, aren’t job seekers also shoppers, as in shopping around for a new job? And if you are a recruiter then I guess that makes you a retailer (of jobs and career opportunities)

So in your role as a retailer how easy are you making it for shoppers to do business with you by way of searching and applying for jobs?  If they are searching for jobs at home (or dare I say at work) on a desktop or laptop then they are probably okay. However, shoppers like to get out and about and they spend a lot of time on their mobile, especially when commuting every day.

The Mobile Experience

So how easy is it for those shoppers to search and apply for your jobs on their mobile? Do they land on your perfectly formed mobile-enabled website or are you expecting them to pinch and zoom across the desktop version on their small screen to try and find the jobs section?

And even when they find the jobs section do they then have to fill out a long online form? And even worse (and to complete their misery) are they then asked to attach their CV or Resume (which of course they can’t do!)

And what about the emails you send out informing job seekers about your new jobs? If they read those emails on their mobile (the majority probably do) will they have the same painful experience as described above?

Make It Easy For People To Do Business With You

Every retail business should be making it as easy as possible for shoppers to do business with them. After all, with no customers there typically are no businesses.

Think about retailers like Amazon and Zappos and how easy it is to shop with them on a mobile? They have clearly thought through the process and made it as easy and simple as possible for shoppers to do business with them because they value their shoppers.

Step Into Their Shoes

Are you doing the same for your shoppers? How easy is it to apply for a job at your company? Put yourself in their shoes, get your mobile out and try! Then ask yourself “am I making it easy for job seekers to apply for a job at our company?”

Remember a question from the first paragraph… “have you ever seen an advert for a great deal on a product but you can’t make a purchase because you can’t access the website? “ Well simply switch the word “product” for “jobs” and you have exactly the same situation. How annoying is that!

mike taylor - web based recruitment

Written by Mike Taylor from Web Based Recruitment. Mike is running Mobile Recruiting Strategies on the 27th March 2014, a Free Online Event with the latest Mobile Strategies, Insights and Case Studies. Speakers include LinkedIn, Google and Accenture.

Comments

  1. Great piece Mike, in my role I am always telling people there are 2 types of Internet users, buyers and sellers and the context and need never changes from one purchase/sale to another.

    Think of job boards and shopping aggregators like Amazon, I would always go for the product that is well sold, with reviews and ratings on the seller, its the same with jobs, people buy on information.

    Secondly, barriers to application are a massive issue when it comes to generating the right individuals for a job, it could be anything from the form being long, the site being slow to load, the font strange.. well the list is endless.

    1 tool I particularly like in and above Mobile accessibility is the use of an ApplyviaLinkedIn button, so simple!

  2. Mike Taylor says:

    Hi James

    Many thanks for taking the time to make a comment.

    You are right, it should be all about simplicity and an Apply via Linkedin option is certainly one way of achieving it.

    Online loyalty soon disappears if people can’t do what they want quickly and easily.

    Thanks
    Mike

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