Tomorrow's a big day for corporate recruiters.
It might seem like just another Tuesday, but on April 21, 2015, Google is releasing its latest search algorithms. To be fair, Google's given us fair warning. Back in February 2015, the company posted a blog, stating “When it comes to search on mobile devices, users should get the most relevant and timely results, no matter if the information lives on mobile-friendly web pages or apps. As more people use mobile devices to access the internet, our algorithms have to adapt to these usage patterns.”
The blog post went on to clearly state, “Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal.”
Google gets it. Since there are more mobile devices on the planet than toothbrushes, it makes sense to optimize search results for pages that are mobile optimized.
Here's the $1M question: How will your company's career site rank tomorrow?
Mobile Responsiveness and Mobile Sites
Mobile responsive sites automatically resize and adjust content based on the device that's used. mSite is a separate site that's created expressly for mobile. Google doesn't disclose which method is better for search.
Google has favored mobile-enabled sites for quite some time. We don't know exactly how the rankings will work, it's quite likely that if your career page isn't mobile-friendly, and doesn't match the Google mobile-friendly algorithm, that candidates will have a hard time finding it.
How Does Your Site Respond?
Have you tried applying for a job off of your career site recently? If your site isn't mobile responsive or if you don't have a specific mSite, you are hampering your recruiting efforts and probably losing candidates.
Applicant Tracking Systems
Many applicant tracking systems aren't mobile-friendly. Find a vendor (like HR Virtuoso) that can help you enable your ATS for mobile without having to go through a new implementation.
Candidate Experience
Even if your ATS is mobile-friendly, consider the candidate experience. Simply replicating an online experience often doesn't translate well on a mobile device. Mobile users need short, streamlined processes. Consider eliminating sign-ons and use a short form employment application. If you must use a sign-on process, infer as much data as possible.
Recruiters, it's not too late to fix your career page. I hope that this brief article provides you with the basic information you need to persuade your leadership team that you need to fix your career site — now.