With the good news this week that more Americans are employed comes a bellwether for small businesses: Job seekers can afford to be choosier. Expect to find yourself working harder to find good talent this year.
The best way to meet the challenge is to reach candidates where they’re searching for jobs. And that place is increasingly likely to be their phones, according to Jason Whitman, senior vice president of client services for the online job market Indeed.
“Historically small businesses have struggled to advertise their jobs online,” Whitman says. “A lot of times their method is putting a ‘help wanted’ sign in the window or a classified ad in the newspaper.” But now, even being online is not enough: your job ads must be mobile friendly.
Indeed, which features close to 16 million openings at any given time and hosts resumes from more than 40 million qualified workers, populates its website two ways: It indexes online job ads from employers across all industries worldwide. “If a job is listed on a company website it will end up on Indeed.” Indeed also works with businesses who pay to run ads on the site for only as long as their budget allows or until the job is filled.
To offer job seekers a truly comprehensive view of the market, Whitman says the company’s mission now is to help small businesses post their jobs online. “Small businesses are creating two-thirds of all jobs. And having an open job is just so critical to a small business,” Whitman says, “so we are helping to educate small businesses about how online recruiting works.”
Whitman claims that Indeed’s technology is leveling the playing field. “Big companies have had the advantage. They have resources like webmasters and HR departments. Small businesses were shut out.” Indeed’s platform lets job seekers see openings at small businesses alongside those at big businesses.
And small businesses that place their ads directly on Indeed benefit further by having the ads rendered mobile-ready. Whitman says half of all Indeed’s traffic last year came from mobile devices. “It’s important for companies to be thinking about how their job ad looks on a mobile device. Do viewers get stuck or hit a barrier or wall?”
Job seekers can also view and apply for jobs through the Indeed app, which Whitman says is “the number one job app in 20 countries and the US.”
Whitman says mobile job seekers apply for twice as many jobs as those who use the desktop to search openings. Why? “When you’re searching online at your desktop, you have emails coming in, Facebook is open, and there are other distractions that come with being at your desk. When you’re in a mobile app, especially if you’re using it on a bus or a train, it takes your full attention.” With their resumes uploaded to the site, users can log in from anywhere and apply for jobs with just a click.
