As I right this, the future of 4G telecoms in Britain is being launched at the science museum. Not only will this vastly improve the signal in the UK's cities, it will also make it much easier to view TV and video content on smartphones. Smartphones are in fact becoming our information hub. In December 2011, eMarketer revealed figures (for the previous year) that suggested that in one day, the average US adult spent 4.5 hours watching TV/video, 2.75 hours using the Internet and 1 hour using the mobile. However, as smart phones have become more ubiquitous (with lower price points and inclusion in price plans), the amount on information that is consumed through them has rocketed. According to digital market intelligence company comScore, the number of European smartphone users accessing news via a mobile browser or app has surged 74% over the past year. The UK has the highest percentage of frequent users, at just under 50%.
Social Media has already seen a sea-change in the way both communications and recruitment are conducted. Mobile is certainly the next challenge. After all, it makes absolute sense that the best time to connect with friends, browse the new releases and check job vacancies is while you are travelling or on a lunch break - and your smartphone is the great enabler for this.
Of course, PR as a discipline is slightly further ahead of the game with this than recruitment - with major news sources having gone online some years ago. Most PR agencies now offer some form or social/digital integration and some even offer mobile app development. But what about recruitment?
A recent (November 2011) study by jobseeker market intelligence company, Potentialpark, revealed that almost 20% of job seekers use mobile, while over 50% could imagine doing so in the near future. However, the study found that only 7% of employers had a mobile version of their career site and only 3% had a mobile job app. As 2012/13 will undoubtedly see a large increase in this type of mobile use, addressing the needs of mobile job applicants will become a priority for both recruitment agencies and their clients. The top 5 activities that those surveyed said they would like to do via mobile were:
1. Search jobs (57%)
2. Received job alerts via SMS/email (51%)
3. Track application status (39%)
4. Check calendar with career related events (39%)
5. Read about the recruitment process (39%)
That's going to require a certain degree of investment. Of course, it’s not easy to write out a personal statement or cover letter on a mobile - which may be one of the reasons that 'Apply for jobs' came further down the list of activities, even when ‘Search jobs’ came up top. But as the eMarketer stats revealed, people like to ear mark information on mobile to check out in detail later, when at their PC. And there are always shortcuts - such as prepared, tweakable cover letters uploaded to Skydrive, easily accessed via a mobile.
I expect the next 12 months will see a new focus on websites being optimised for mobile, even further integration with social media and an even great expansion of QR code use and bespoke app development. I also think that careers pages will see an increased use of video content and smart forms optimised for mobile. And these are still early days, so it’s likely that there are brain boxes out there who are nearly ready to launch new innovative tools that will make mobile adoption easier.
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