What is Mobile Job Recruiting?

Posted on: January 24th, 2012 by jzickler No Comments

The ZMOT (Zero Moment of Truth) approach to decision making is part of the consumer idealism of today. We can see the ZMOT in action every day:

A man taking a photo of a product on his droid in a store aisle
A woman scanning a QR code or UPC code with her iPhone during a potential purchase
Your spouse reading product reviews on a Blackberry before heading out to shop
Your sister searching for the hottest toys for your favorite niece or nephew on an iPad

If, as HR recruiters, we don’t rethink the way we engage the savvy recruits, we lose mind and market share to competition. So, how do we reach these savvy recruits. Where they are spending their time. Smartphones. A recent research project we found showed us that it’s not just teenagers that use smartphones.

35-44 demo has nearly identical adoption as 18-24
Trend is expected to continue to grow
40% of Tablet & Smartphone owners use them while watching TV (Nielsen)
17% of women / 21% of men looked up product information because of a TV commercial (Nielsen)
79% of consumers use a smartphone to help with shopping (Google: ZMOT)

So, in order to reach these users on their Smartphones, we need to talk about a mobile presence. What is a mobile presence? There are many things that can constitute a mobile presence. These are mobile apps, mobile websites, mobile alerts, ads, text messages, and even QR codes.

Mobile App
A mobile app is a software application designed to be run on a mobile device such as a tablet or smartphone. These apps are sought out and installed by the user through distribution sources such as iTunes, Blackberry, or the Android Marketplace

Mobile Website
A mobile website is a specifically optimized site, designed for use on a mobile device such as a tablet or smartphone. Mobile optimization allows for proper distribution of site content in the mobile browser without limiting user experience.

Mobile Alerts (Push notifications)
A mobile alert is a notification that is pushed to a mobile device by an internet service. This notification can provide notice to the device user of new content which may be displayed on their device.

Mobile Ad
A mobile ad is an unobtrusive advertisement placed within a relevant application or mobile site. This advertisement is clickable and links to additional web content.

Text Messages
Text message marketing is an opt-in/opt-out technology that provides a service which pushes important information, which the user has requested, to their mobile device via text message.

QR Code
A QR code is a new type of barcode which contains digital information. When scanned with the camera of a digital device this barcode can tell the device to display specific content in the browser.

Mobile apps are now the job search tool of choice for professionals

77% of job seekers are now using mobile job search tools
A big portion of the 77% say that mobile tools are more accessible then other tools
24% cite portability as the key reason for using mobile devices
17% don’t want to get caught doing job searches at work

Here are Five mobile apps that can make a job search easier.

Monster Mobile
The popular job board, Monster.com, created this mobile app to let you search jobs, forward favorites to an e-mail address, manage resumes and fill out job applications.

LinkedIn Mobile
Used the same way as LinkedIn, this mobile version lets you create a profile that doubles as an online resume. It lets you do the same business connecting, but on the go.

ResumeBear
ResumeBear’s mobile application makes sending and tracking your resume easy as pie. You can not only access your resume, but you can send it to potential employers. Most significantly, once you send a resume, you will receive a text or email alert as soon as the resume’s been read.

TweetMyJobs
Integrates Twitter and Facebook into a next-generation job search tool. It lets users take advantage of their existing social network connections to get personally introduced to potential employers, and it lets those doing the hiring get the word out to candidates.

Bump
This could well be the strangest app. When you load bump into your smartphone, you can physically “bump” other phones equipped with the software to instantly exchange names, addresses, and phone numbers. The app is 100% encrypted end-to-end.

What do job seekers want to see in mobile recruiting?

Ability to search for jobs
Receive job alerts (notifications of open positions via text/email/notifications)
Tracking of application status
Apply for jobs
Share content with friends on Social Networks (Twitter, Facebook, etc…)
Calendar with career related events

Mobile recruiting is clearly on the rise.

19% of job seekers use their mobile devices for career-related purposes in the ZMOT
50% said they could imagine doing it
Only 7% of employers have a mobile version of the career website
Only 3% have a mobile app
1 in 5 job seekers may not sound like a huge deal, but clearly this number is growing fast

Mobile web apps are critical as the mobile explosion continues. The Mobile ZMOT opportunity can offer an immediate touch point.

Maker of Facebook and Logitech Supply Vending Machines Hires Boost.

Posted on: January 19th, 2012 by jzickler No Comments

We are excited to be working with IVM, Inc on new mobile app technology for their supply vending machines. The basic and most popular product of the IVM Automated Dispensing System is the vending machine, an industry standard helical machine. This system provides secure, controlled access to supplies by requiring an employee to be authorized before dispensing any product. Access is gained through use of a PIN, a magnetic stripe card, proximately card, or barcode (including invisible barcode). An employee simply walks up to the machine, authorizes via use of PIN or employee badge, and chooses the product they need to complete their duties. Beyond authorization to access the supply vending machine, restrictions can be enabled based on employee or product.

See these machines in action.

The NEW Google Images

Posted on: July 21st, 2010 by mritter No Comments

Yes, I noticed it too. Google always seems to be changing things on me. But, this new image search is nice, and there are some great new features to this image search that will make your life a lot easier (and faster). It’s all about efficiency. Right? The great thing about the new image search results is the lack of text data. All that is shown are the images–and, you can get a good idea of what kind of image it is (landscape, portrait, small, big, etc…) before you ever even click it. Google calls this a “dense titled layout.”

Now, you can simply hover over an image and preview it. The image and information about where it came from are neatly presented. This means a faster route to the image(s) are looking for. The old image results had a cluster of text data that most people never bothered to even look at.

Another great feature is the fact that the images are delivered in context to the page it was featured on. When you click the image, it loads the page and displays that particular image in a “lightbox” type display. It bothered me at first, but I quickly realized context around the images are usually just as important–and sometimes there are other images around that image that might tickle your fancy a bit more.

Less is more, right? Not in this case. Now there are over 10 billion images on Google’s image search, compared to 250 million in 2001.

Yes, Microsoft Bing has already had some of these features. But do they have Image Swirl? Nah.

Bing Me Up, Scotty.

Posted on: July 12th, 2010 by mritter No Comments

I’m a fan of Google. I don’t like most Microsoft products. That’s just how it is. But, Microsoft’s search engine Bing is pretty cool. And, it is start sucking up a little bit of Google’s market share. Experian Hitwise reported that Bing has increased in market share by 7%, occupying about 9.85% of the U.S. search engine market in June. While Microsoft’s gains are coming mostly at the expense of it’s partner Yahoo! (whose search operations it will soon absorb), new data shows that Bing is also chipping away at Google’s dominant position. But, keep in mind that Google still easily controls the market at around 72%, with Yahoo! trailing at 14%. Basically, Bing has grown 88% in just 12 months. Yahoo has declined 11.24% and Google is down 3.2% over that same period.

However, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Microsoft is going to have to do something extremely original to be able to split the search engine market share with Google. Google is too well known. It’s simple & clean, easy to use, and anyone that has ever used the internet knows what Google is and how to use it.

According to Billboard, Microsoft has reported that 10 percent of all internet search queries are entertainment-related. So, among all of the Bing upgrades in the past year, Microsoft has effectively positioned itself as a better portal for entertainment. Yes, Google does provide links to streaming audio in their search results just as Bing does. However, Bing has more of a complete package that includes additional details on tour dates, links to buy audio and video, and even lyrics. Oh, and out of all the entertainment related search queries, music lyrics alone account for 70 percent of those searches.

However, Google plans to launch a music download service (along side their social network) that is tied to its search engine. Google announced at a developers conference in May that they have aquired Simplify Media–which is a “content-syncing” technology that can automatically sync and stream music purchased online to any Android-based phone.

So, with Google working to provide automatic “sync-and-download/stream” services with Android phones, and Bing providing the same service with Zune and Windows-based phones, will we be seeing an iTunes.com in the near future? I think yes.

Google Me

Posted on: June 29th, 2010 by mritter No Comments

The word is out–it’s coming. Google will be taking another stab at social media. Four months ago, Google released Google Buzz which failed to impress just about everyone…that has ever even heard of it. Google Buzz is a tool that allows it’s users to share links, pictures, and thoughts with friends through gmail. However, Buzz caused some major piracy issues upon it’s debut, and it’s limited use wasn’t really putting any roadblocks in front of Facebook’s growth. Google is making a new move with this project tentatively called Google Me. Google Me will be a first-class social network, much more than Okrut and Buzz are. Apparently, they are modeling it off Facebook, which is likely to mean that there will be similar features like news feeds and personal profiles.

Social media and networking has been an important goal for Google, but the company hasn’t been able to produce anything innovative. If Google Me does come to light, expect it to be a better version of Facebook. I would imagine that it would have more clear-cut privacy settings and controls, allowing users to feel a bit more comfortable posting content and sharing personal information. But, will anyone use it? Afterall, Facebook has been developing their network since 2004. Timing is everything.

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