Recruiting on the run: mobile recruiting networks offer efficiency, reach and immediacy.

Like hundreds of other employers, Hewitt and Associates had a booth at the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Exhibition in New Orleans in September 2009. But unlike other recruiters, the Lincolnshire, Ill.-based HR consulting and outsourcing firm took an unusual approach to the typical job fair experience. Instead of collecting business cards and handing out collateral, Hewitt displayed posters prompting attendees to text message "HEWDIVERSITY" to a specified five-digit number. Every texter was entered in a prize drawing--and added to Hewitt's growing mobile recruiting network.

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This network allows Hewitt to communicate with a pool of interested job seekers--wherever they are--as soon as positions become available and results in much higher penetration than other forms of recruitment marketing. It creates "an audience that wants to hear from you," says Michael Marlatt, former Hewitt recruiter and architect of the NBMBAA mobile recruiting campaign.

Few employers realize the potential of mobile recruiting. "It's cutting-edge," says Chris Hoyt, a recruiter for AT&T and a self-proclaimed "evangelist," but not because it is complicated, expensive or inaccessible. In fact, with the right tools, an employer can create a mobile recruiting presence in days for far less than it typically pays for a newspaper ad or a job board posting.

Reaching Job Seekers

According to CTIA-The Wireless Association, U.S. residents use more than 270 million mobile devices. Considering that the U.S. Census Bureau estimates the population to be at about 304 million, that means roughly 89 percent now have some type of mobile device.

And those devices are used for far more than phone calls. Users send and receive texts--technically referred to as "SMS," or "short messaging service"--browse the web, send and receive e-mail, and more. While professionals still spend hours in front of computers at work and at home, they spend even more time with mobile devices.

Hence, mobile recruiting campaigns make sense. Give job seekers an opportunity to continue to connect with you, advises Marlatt, who launched mobile recruiting campaigns at Microsoft before starting his consultancy, Cloud Recruiting.

That connection goes two ways: Mobile devices also make it convenient for job seekers to reach out to potential employers.