Marriott International is targeting millennials and mobile-savvy professionals with its new mobile-optimized job application site.

Consumers can search and apply for jobs via http://m.jobs.marriott.com or http://m.jobs.ritzcarlton.com on any mobile device. The move was intended to stay up to date with modern professionals, especially millennials.

?We have been focused on advancing our digital careers presence for the past two years,? said Kristy Godbold, global human resources officer at Marriott International, Bethesda, MD. ?For mobile, we began by first offering a job seeker the option to search for jobs and learn more about our work locations by leveraging GPS technology.?

?Mobile site visitors are immediately served up jobs near them to reduce ?search? steps for the job seeker,? she said. ?Users can even see points of interest near a job as well as estimated commute times to reach the job location.

?While launching the mobile search site was a big step forward, mobile apply was important to tackle next. Trends among two key audiences were very telling for us ? millennials, as well as job seekers in emerging markets.?

Jobs on the go
With consumers spending more and more time on their mobile devices, it makes sense that Marriott International is shifting its sites over to mobile. 

According to Simply Hired 2013 Recruiting Outlook, 70 percent of job seekers are using their mobile device to find their next job.

Consumers may be on the subway or waiting in line and have a few minutes to spare, and they are spending those minutes on mobile devices. Marketers need to realize that this is a prime opportunity to reach consumers, whether it be for advertising and promoting sales or showcasing available jobs.

Millennials especially are spending more time on mobile devices, with more than 50 percent saying mobile devices are their primary access point to the Internet, and by 2018, they will make up 50 percent of the working population.

The need for mobile sites becomes even more pronounced internationally when some consumers can only access the Internet via mobile devices. Mobile job application sites may be the only entry point for consumers in developing countries.

Of the world?s six billion mobile phones, more than 75 percent is located in the developing world.

Marriott?s mobile job site is available on smartphones, tablets and feature phones. It is available in six languages, including English, Spanish, French, Simplified Chinese, German and Portuguese and will add more languages in March.

Consumers can filter the mobile job search by job category, schedule, position type, brands and location.

Consumers can either type in their information directly into the site or they can import important information from their LinkedIn profile. This is key since consumers may get impatient trying to type in lots of application information on a small smartphone screen.

While it is definitely impressive that Marriott is showing such commitment to mobile, it is unclear whether or not consumers will actually want to fill out a whole application on a smartphone. It seems as though that may be an action reserved for a laptop or desktop.

However, with features such as LinkedIn integration, Marriott may be able to change that reality.

Mobile Marriott
Marriott is one of seven Fortune 500 companies that scored a perfect ?Corporate Mobile Readiness? score from iMomentous. It is also part of only five percent of Fortune 500 companies that offer candidates the opportunity to apply for jobs on mobile devices.

Beyond human resources, mobile has played a big role for Marriott in the past few years.

Last year, Marriott leveraged Blippar and augmented reality to advertise its Travel Brilliantly campaign. Since the company was reimagining the travel experience, it made sense to integrate advance mobile technology in its print ads (see story).

Marriott has also leveraged mobile to advance the hotel stay itself. Last year, the company launched an app that allows travelers to check into a hotel from their mobile device (see story).

?Our focus on mobile has enabled us to get ahead,? Ms. Godbold said. ?With the release of mobile apply, not only are we tops in the hospitality industry, but we are now among the ?best of the best? across all industries.

?Job seekers already are searching for jobs via mobile ? and for many job boards, you can apply for jobs on your mobile device as well,? she said. ?The proof is in the data and we wanted to be among the first companies to meet the demand.?

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York