3 November 2017

Poor Mobile Experience Keeps Top Talent Away

by Stephanie Lummis

I read recently about Nova Scotia’s Top Employers for 2017.

It is an amazing achievement when culture and leadership can come together in an organization and inspire great work. The award is also an excellent way to attract more good people to your organization.

So it surprised me when I viewed the websites of the winners: 1/3 of them don’t provide a good mobile user experience. This should be a concern for these organizations, as job seekers continue to reach for their smartphones.

Mobile Job Search is Growing

According to Pew Research (US)¹, most job searching happens on our mobile devices: 57% of baby boomers, 73% of Generation X, and 78% of millennials. Of these people, 50% have applied for jobs on their phone.

Mobile is faster, easier and more private. 51% of job seekers are still employed¹. For them, getting job alerts via email or text and exploring jobs on their phone keeps that browsing history off their work computer. As well, 70% of high-potential employees say that mobile recruiting makes organizations more attractive to them. (IBM)¹

Mobile User Experience Makes an Impression

Most career sites like Eluta, Career Beacon or LinkedIn are optimized for mobile recruiting. Relying on these sites to be mobile-friendly is not enough though, as 61% of job seekers visit company sites before applying.¹

And if you use social media to promote career opportunities, you are encouraging a bad interaction. Most social media use is on mobile. Your potential employees are 1 click away from your non-mobile website.

  • 52% of people said that a bad mobile experience made them less likely to engage with a company – this includes job seekers
  • People on mobile are 5X more likely to leave a site that isn’t optimized for mobile
  • Almost half of respondents feel frustrated and annoyed when they have to use a site that is poorly optimized for mobile¹

Unfortunately poor user experience translates directly to your brand. If your site makes them feel frustrated and annoyed, how will they feel about you as a potential employer?

Pinching and Zooming is Pushing Away Applicants

Did you know that Google penalizes websites that aren’t mobile friendly? If someone does a job search from their phone for the careers you offer, Google will exclude your site from search results because it doesn’t provide a good mobile user experience.

The bottom line is that top talent wants to work with forward-thinking organizations. The iPhone turned 10 years old and phones have been supporting web browsers for 15…how forward-thinking does that old site make you look?

Think your mobile user experience could use some help? Get in touch.

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