In a tight labour market, how do recruiters reach potential employees who work on construction sites, in hair salons, hotels, restaurants or other workplaces where they don't have regular access to job postings on the internet, the radio or in newspapers? A group of friends who worked for online recruitment agency Monster came up with the answer.

John Conroy, a former strategic HR consultant for a unit of Monster Worldwide, and his colleagues in France realised that while many jobseekers are always on the move, they will usually have their mobile phone by their side. This prompted them to create a company called Mobiljob - a French-Irish initiative - that enables employers to recruit what Conroy calls "Generation Text," a demographic spanning teenagers through to forty-somethings who communicate daily with their mobile phones.

"When we were working in strategic recruitment, there was always a group of people who were difficult to get hold of," says Conroy, chief executive of Mobiljob. "Then we said to each other: 'we all have mobile phones, so why not put a HR solution on mobiles?'"

At least 94 per cent of the Irish population owns a mobile phone, one of the highest penetrations of any medium in the country, according to the executive. Ireland also produces the largest number of text messages in Europe, he said. An average of 80 text messages are sent per person each month in Ireland, compared to about 50 in the UK and 35 in France.

While Mobiljob began life 18 months ago in France, where it now counts Disneyland Paris, hotel chain Accor and the French army as its clients, the success in Ireland of the mobile phone and an economy near full employment made it a ripe market for this recruitment technology.

Although Mobiljob only launched the technology here in May, at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) conference for HR professionals in Killarney, the company already boasts high-profile customers such as hairdressing chain Peter Mark, PC makers Dell and supermarket operator Musgraves. In France, Accor received more than 700 CVs by text in six months, of which 209 were suitable applications.

Mobiljob, backed by French venture capitalists Banexi Ventures Partners, plans to introduce its service to the UK in January and has hired people in Spain and Germany as it plots its expansion across Europe.

"This will be a European solution as people increasingly move across boundaries in search of work," Conroy said. "For instance, in Ireland clients are asking for us to have a site in Polish."

Through their mobile phones, Irish jobseekers can now search for jobs and apply directly by sending a brief CV from anywhere, anytime.

Candidates can also type a company's name, such as Delljobs, and text it to that number, in addition to receiving weekly job alerts about suitable opportunities in their local area.

They can access Mobiljob through Vodafone live!, 02 i-mode, 3 or Meteor, or by texting the word "jobs" to 53321.

The recruiter, meanwhile, can publish their job advert on Mobiljob via their PC. When they receive CVs, they can text or call the candidate to arrange an interview, cutting the time it takes to hire staff.

Although Mobiljob has just nine clients so far - it is in talks with more possible customers, including a "large governmental body" - demand for its service from jobseekers is still rising faster than supply.

"People from all walks of life are registering with us, but the challenge we face is getting enough companies quickly enough to keep jobseekers interested," Conroy said.

While Conroy expects his service to benefit from the "exponential rate" of growth in technology in the years ahead, he concedes others may try to copy Mobiljob's technology and compete with it for business.

"The only thing in our favour is that the technology is incredibly complicated, and our strategy is to develop strong relationships with phone operators and the media," he said.

Recruiters can place an unlimited number of job postings on Mobiljob at €8,300 for six months and €13,230 for 12 months, or buy a package of job adverts at lower prices. For more information, see: www.mobiljob.ie.