Sodexo is launching two things: a new mobile-friendly careers site, as well as a job-hunting application for U.S. job seekers to use on iPhones, iPads, Androids, and soon Blackberries. Candidates can use the app, available from a landing page, to search for jobs, apply for jobs, join a talent community, get job alerts, and learn more about working for the company.
What makes it not just-another-mobile-recruiting-launch is, for one, that it’s Sodexo. The company earned the 2010 recruiting department of the year award; is a finalist this year in the best-brand category; and is a leader in recruiting with social media. Also, candidates who create a profile in the Sodexo career center can apply for a job straight from the mobile device; this differs from many other setups, where companies need candidates to eventually get to their laptop or desktop to apply.
Sodexo has been helped by a company mentioned before called “AllTheTopBananas.” The British firm has been landing some major mobile-recruiting customers — though not all; for example, one highly regarded corporate recruiting department I’ve been talking to went with Broadbean.
Among Sodexo’s challenges in creating the app were its long-standing emphasis on providing a different experience for new job-seekers, alumni, and current employees. When someone from Sodexo posts a job to the applicant tracking system, they can say that it’s for internal viewing only, internal viewing and alumni viewing, or external. Current and former management employees will use a login ID to get access to 10-30% more job openings than your basic external candidate.
From the first meeting to the final approval by Apple for the apps, it took about eight months to make the app. It took several months just to deal with issues relating to “SSO” — Single Sign On, the company system where an employee uses the same log-in password as they do with any other company system.
Even before this relaunch, Sodexo’s mobile careers site was getting about 40,000 page views monthly, representing about 9% of the visitors to Sodexo’s career site. About 40% were coming from Android devices, about 26% from iPhones, 15% iPads, and 8% RIM phones.
Sodexo’s talent acquisition VP Arie Ball will talk about the company’s development of the mobile phone application March 29 in San Diego.