Executive recruitment and IT outsourcing service provider Harvey Nash claimed to become the first recruitment company in the world to launch an iPad app in April with its Online Appointments Magazine. It has had more than 2,000 downloads to date and is number 30 in the iPad buniness news app chart in the US. The online magazine is also in the top five business iPad Apps in India, and is sixth in China.

Director Rob Grimsey says such devices are only as good as the apps that are developed for it but describes the iPad as a “game changing device on a macro scale”. “It appeals to a much wider audience than traditional notebooks and has real simplicity, mobility and “usability,” he said. “Our mantra is ’to be where our candidates and clients are’, so whether that’s on the web, an iPhone or - as we believe will rapidly be the case - an iPad, we want to be close to our key stakeholders.”

Specialist engineering recruitment firm Orion Group is testing an iPad verison of its iPhone app that should be available in the App Store within the next month. Its IT director, Duncan Murray, told Recruiter it is already planning the second version. “The iPad is targeted at a different market due to its size and lack of voice calling. It’s unlikely to be carried everywhere as an iPhone is, but it’ll be a very attractive platform” he said. “We want to be able to give them a simple way to view our hottest vacancies.”