How Apple Apps Advance Recruiting at Your Own Business

If you've ever had to fill job openings at your solution provider business, you know how difficult recruiting and hiring is. Plain and simple: It's time and resource consuming. Bradford, CEO of HireVue, discusses how to recruit effectively using Apple mobile devices, including iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches. —Jennifer Bosavage, editor

Regardless of your industry or company size, hiring the talent that will propel your company to success requires being at the right place at the right time – before the competition is there – and with a strong employment brand and an enhanced candidate experience. The problem is, recruiting and effectively evaluating job candidates takes time, and often employers invest their resources in screening individuals only to determine that they’re not a right fit for the position or company.

In a market where both unemployment and talent shortages are in abundance, and communications trends point to a mobile movement, the HR technology industry is catching on to offer employers new ways to reach, attract, identify and hire those individuals who are right for their organizations. Companies at the cutting-edge of recruiting are now connecting with and interviewing a diverse range of job candidates all over the globe through the use of Apple mobile devices, including iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches.

A New Approach: iOS Apps and Interviewing
Using SaaS, video and now mobile based technology, companies are improving productivity and effectiveness, and saving money by skipping bad job interviews. With new mobile apps available, employers can create “on demand” job interviews – including video, essay and multiple choice questions – and share them with candidates. Candidates then complete the interview at their convenience using a mobile digital interviewing app and the built-in camera and microphone of their favorite mobile iOS devices. Once complete, employers can review responses, compare candidates side-by-side, share interviews and capture feedback within a cloud-based digital interviewing platform.

There’s nothing more frustrating than flying an individual in for a full day of interviews, only to realize that they’re not the right candidate after the second interview question. Because the app-enabled interviews are recorded, employers are able to avoid scheduling hassles and quickly identify and engage those candidates that are a good match for the position and company. With better insight than a phone screening or resume provides, they can also quickly determine in which candidates they should avoid investing their valuable budgets and time.

Employers can watch, share, replay, skip and compare the interviews at any time, even from their own mobile devices. A business leader in New York can interview a sales candidate in Boston without ever stepping foot on a train. A busy CEO can review and consider executive support candidates while at the airport, waiting to catch their next flight.

Next: Elevating the Candidate Experience Elevating the Candidate Experience
Boost employment brand and provide a memorable, one-of-a-kind candidate experience using mobile recruiting technology that enables completion of job interviews at any time, from anywhere. Thanks to the app, job seekers no longer need to spend days away from their families traveling or take time off from work. They also get better mileage out of their job interviews, which can be shared with multiple stakeholders at the company. Digital interviewing technology also provides a consistent, standardized and fair interview – all candidates are asked the same questions and evaluated on the same criteria.

Imagine being able to complete a job interview on your lunch break from your iPhone, or in the evening after the kids are in bed from your iPad. Candidates can appreciate the convenience of this technology, and employers can attract talent by showing they are a forward-thinking company that values the candidates’ time and embraces effective and evolving communication methods.

Other mobile recruiting technologies also place emphasis on easing the process for candidates and untethering recruiters. Some mobile apps provide a company-branded mobile job search experience that puts job posting information and relevant content at candidates’ fingertips. Other mobile recruiting solutions focus on sharing job alerts that candidates can respond to instantly from their mobile devices. Industry leading recruiting, applicant tracking and talent management solution providers offer employers integrated real-time mobile access to enterprise recruiting solutions to encourage greater candidate relationship management and more effective communication.

Reach Candidates Wherever They Are Employers can also gain a competitive edge using mobile apps by reaching a more expansive and diverse global candidate pool. Research indicates that U.S. minority populations regularly access the Internet using handheld devices, but may not have regular access to a traditional computer. While 80 percent of the world is connected by the electrical grid, 85 percent of the world’s population is covered by commercial wireless signals. And according to International Telecom Union, in 2010, India and China added 300 million mobile subscribers. The numbers speak for themselves; this is a widespread, global and quickly growing communication trend. It’s time to adopt mobile recruiting strategies if you hope to become or remain a competitive employment brand.

Interviewing in the Instant Age
Effective recruiting is a crucial element of any successful business strategy. But quickly identifying those individuals who will drive sales, increase market presence and can foster lasting partnerships is no easy task – especially when communication expectations are high and social media trends make the world smaller.

Mobile interviewing and recruiting apps not only improve internal processes, but they also can help employers reach and identify top performers wherever they are, before their competition does. Many of the HR industry’s leading solution providers offer iOS apps that help recruiters maximize effectiveness and allows candidates showcase the characteristics that make them stand out. As iOS devices take their place in the mobile movement, companies can take their places as leading employment brands by leveraging apps that improve processes and help them connect with top talent.