Having a mobile presence is paramount if you want to connect to job seekers.
Searching for jobs online used to be the norm, but as more people become unhappy in their current positions and use employer time and resources to find a new job, those employers are taking notice. As a result, employees are getting fired. This could all be avoided if candidates had access to mobile job searching.
The mobile phone is becoming the top choice of communication for most people. Mobile phones are easy to use, portable and versatile. Unlike land lines or computers, they can be used virtually everywhere.
There are currently more than 4 billion handsets connecting users throughout the world. A recent study by the CDC found that for the first time, cell phones outnumber fixed land lines as a household’s unique phone, as one in five homes have a cell phone but no land line.
Statistics like these are causing more and more employers to turn to mobile. Employers that only rely on traditional advertising or online advertising, such as job boards, might have some luck finding potential candidates, but they are missing a key demographic.
Employers who use mobile are able to connect with job seekers anywhere at anytime. People looking for work can use their cell phone to receive text alerts of open jobs or browse employers’ mobile Web sites. Mobile job searching allows potential candidates to browse open positions when it’s most convenient for them, whether they’re waiting in line or at work.
If you’re tempted to use your work computer to search for jobs – don’t. Mobile searching would be a better alternative, as employers are catching onto the trend that company computers are being used to search for jobs and employees are seeing the repercussions.
According to an article by MSN Careers, one employer at a public relations agency fired an employee for excessive job hunting while at work. The employer began monitoring the employee’s computer habits when her productivity noticeably declined and found her job search was taking more time than her current job, which violated her employment agreement.
“If you want to get fired, by all means job hunt, but your work computer is 100 percent the property of the company for which you work,” the employer cautions. “So even if you are doing the searching at home, best to do so on your personal [home computer]. If your company has monitoring software on your computer, it will record your activity whether you are at work or at home.”
If you’re caught job searching on the clock, it could have negative effects for your future. On top of not being able to receive unemployment because you violated an employment contract, you’ll be hard pressed to get a positive recommendation from your current employer.
“If your employer sees you are job searching, even if just because of casual curiosity, it sends the message that you wish to leave your current employer, and it could cause them to include you in planned layoffs for which you may have never been considered before,” the employer added.
A better alternative would be to use your mobile phone to search for a job. That way you’re guaranteed privacy, as an employer has no right to access your mobile phone. This would avoid any need for you to use a work computer to search for another job and would eliminate your chances of being fired for doing so.
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