Recruiters should partner with students to make their recruitment apps less boring and to drive repeat visits, according to Matthew Jeffery, head of EMEA talent acquisition and global talent brand at Autodesk.

Jeffery told a recent meeting of the HR Transformation Network in London that while mobile apps are seen as the holy grail for recruiters, some corporate apps are dull and boring.

“The challenge is to keep people coming back to your app everyday… People won’t want to be uploading 20 or 30 or 50 different mobile apps [from different companies].”

Jeffery added: “If you are looking for a job, you are quite happy to have that app on there; if you are not, it is going to be deleted in a few weeks.”

Jeffery suggested recruiters partner with students who were already developing games, writing comics and designing cartoons, all things that drive repeat visits.

“Why not use some of those students who just want the exposure or a little bit of help with their course fees?” Marriot Hotels have done this effectively for hiring and for showing what it takes to run a hotel, he added. 

Jeffery said that Autodesk was talking to a number of universities about partnering with their students.

He explained that the launch of Autodesk’s own app originally planned for August had been delayed because work needed to be done to making the content more engaging. Jeffery said the new app was expected in two weeks.