In 2014, CedarCrestone HR Systems Survey revealed a list of the most popular mobile-enabled HR processes. A crucial HR function, recruitment quite naturally made it to the top 3. Many applicant tracking software (ATS) brands now indeed let recruiters optimize hiring processes and instantly interact with colleagues and applicants via a mobile device. Yet, a mobile app can be at its most useful for recruiters ‘in the field’ with no access to a PC, that’s said, at interviews.
Why Use A Mobile App?
There are tons of reasons a business can use a mobile app. There are few really amazing videos about benefits of using mobile apps. We have created a YouTube playlist for you. Watch these videos from Google and other mobile app leaders.
Before An Interview
The decision to invite a candidate to an interview is always based on the background information gathered by a recruiter. Making the best of this data can help to plan out a more meaningful interview. With a mobile app, it’s possible to:
Access applicants’ profiles. If synchronized with the ATS software, a mobile app can pull applicants’ details from the original CVs for display. Screening such a profile right before an interview will help a recruiter get prepared better.
Select and arrange questions. Creating a list of questions for a candidate can become as easy as creating a playlist. Along with storing ready-made questions sorted out by job requirements, a mobile app can also accumulate the ones entered by interviewers themselves.
Track Schedules
Keep track of scheduled interviews. A mobile device will not only send a reminder about an upcoming interview but also show up the applicant’s profile on the screen. Questions relevant to the applicant’s position may pop up right when a meeting is scheduled to start.
During an interview
The way any interview is conducted depends on the industry, job specifics, and recruiters’ competence. Yet the final objective is always the same – an open and informative exchange of information. Mobile apps can contribute to building it by allowing to:
Record Answers
Instantly mark an applicant’s answers. An interviewer can put a positive/neutral/disappointed emoji face, an option from a list or a short note to score the applicant’s answers. At the end of the interview, a smiley with the most frequently used reaction-emoji will be assigned to the applicant’s profile as an intermediate outcome of the interview.
Record Audio
Record answers in audio. Plain and simple. Yet, in contrast to a regular voice recorder, an interviewing app will automatically attach all the audio files to corresponding questions and candidates. This way an HR expert can be sure there will be no hassle with saving answers for later, feeling free to concentrate on the interview.
Test Question Suggestions
Introduce a situational judgment test. A mobile app can contain situations for an applicant to share their thoughts on or show attitude too. With a rich collection of SJTs always at hand, an interviewer can choose situations in accordance with the job requirements and sometimes even personal impressions from a candidate.
Conclusion
A custom mobile app for interviewing, created by professional mobile developers, can be an effective substitute to interviewers’ regular notepad-and-pencil pack. It will guide both beginning and mature recruiters through pre-interviewing stages as well as through an interview itself.
This article is contributed by Tatiana Lebedeva, a Business Analyst at ScienceSoft
Article Updates
- Updated on July 2017 – Minor issue fixes.