Apple recently got caught enabling a seemingly hapless habit of tracking iPhone 4 user locations. Though their intentions may be in question, their insight is spot-on: location based data will redefine the hardware and software landscape. Steve Jobs himself has proclaimed that "Apple is a mobile devices company" -- if that assertion doesn't give you a glimpse into the future of technology, then little may.
Just as location-based services are being embraced across industries, we're learning there are many nuances to creating, defining, and managing the boundaries between customers, technology, and enterprises interests'. Whether it be mobile banking, mobile health, or mobile recruitment, each service platform has a different set of best practices that govern candidate/customer data management. Enterprise employers, especially, need to know these requirements in each local market they 'operate' in. Thankfully, most service providers are making this increasingly easy to negotiate "check-ins" on mobile devices everywhere.
In particular, location-based services are redefining recruitment efforts for enterprise employers and large placement practices who are being forced to foray into new digital territory through social media and mobile 'apps'. By taking your recruitment marketing efforts "mobile", you open powerful new lines of communication to candidates through SMS text messaging, voice, and video recruitment. If you were to dream big and believe industry analyst Tom Ahonen, "mobile is in fact the fastest-growing TRILLION-dollar industry in the economic history of mankind. That is why Google, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Dell, etc are all interested to get in."
But for all these opportunities, mobile is messy, exactly because it integrates our personal and professional lives into one small space. In these tightly clustered digital spaces, confidentiality and compliance are critical, and the candidate must be in control.
Should we track candidate and worker locations? What can this data be used for? Are there times when it's more or less appropriate? To many of the questions, the answer is "yes" -- the question is more often now "how?"
The benefits of embracing "mobile recruiting" are manifold, and include a first-of-its-kind opportunity to engage candidates in more meaningful, timely, and thoughtful conversations that benefit from location-aware mobile phones. Location-aware recruitment marketing campaigns and real-time workforce management are enormous opportunities for the human resources industry as a whole to rediscover its fundamental purpose: connecting with candidates on their terms, and on their turf.
At Job Rooster, we're proud to be putting people back to work faster, cheaper, and more meaningful by engaging the World Wide Workforce both online and through their mobile phone.
We're using location-based insights to help recruit new talent in new lands. We're engaging prospective candidates in fresh, meaningful conversations that are sensitive to their interests and everyday realities. We're getting people contractor and temporary workers to work on-time by texting them directions to job sites if they're late. There's a whole world of wonder and opportunity to explore with mobile recruitment -- the surface of which we've only begun to scrape.
Indeed, we'd love to tell you all about what we think we can do together by socializing and mobilizing your workforce. Ping us, anytime, anywhere ;-) -- we'd love to reach out and get in touch with you.
