What is text recruiting?

Text recruiting is one way for recruiters to quickly connect with potential candidates. Not only does it save recruiters time and money looking for candidates, but it increases the chance that message recipients will interact with the messages. When recruiters send emails or leave voice messages, it’s a lot easier for their attempts to communicate to go unnoticed.

Some job seekers don’t return phone calls or emails because they never find them among many other messages in their inboxes. Communicating via text message has become the preferred way younger generations interact.

The benefits of text message recruiting

The key benefits of using an automated text messaging tool include:

• Saving your company money by reducing the time and effort your staff needs to invest in recruiting talented job seekers
• Delivering quick responses when candidates have questions about your position or hiring process
• Reaching people who use their phones as the primary method for finding employment opportunities
• Directing candidates to emails or links you’ve sent via other communication methods
• Tracking messages between your business and candidates to gain valuable insights that can improve your recruiting effectiveness
• Communicating with more potential candidates than your recruiting team could on their own

Some of the things you can automate with text message recruiting include scheduling phone interviews, sending important meeting reminders, delivering surveys after an interview or reconnecting with top candidates when new opportunities become available. You can use the automation software to quickly glance over what stage each of your applicants is at during the hiring process too.

Disadvantages of text recruiting

Some of the downsides to consider when constructing a text-based recruiting campaign include the following:

• Overwhelming recruiters with the volume of replies they get to your communications
• Not being able to share confidential information or go into detail like you could over the phone
• Some people treating your messages like spam and reporting them to their cellphone carriers
• Needing to learn how to use new software and tools to send automated text messages to your targeted recipients

The best way to get started is to begin small. If you send messages to a huge contact list, you might be surprised to get more replies to your message than you can sort through on your own. Testing the waters is a good way to gauge the effectiveness of your campaign and learn what’s working before you use text recruiting to target a larger group of candidates.

How to recruit people using text messages

When you’ve decided to implement text recruiting, following these steps can increase your campaign’s effectiveness and the quality of the responses you receive.

1. Pick a good time to send your text messages

It’s usually not a good idea to send your candidates any type of message outside of your normal business hours. Many people check their phones first thing in the morning and are more attentive to their text messages before noon. If you want to ensure they’re on the lookout for your messages, ask them when the best time to contact them is and aim to deliver your messages within the window they give you.

2. Pay attention to your tone

When you send messages to your candidates, try to strike a balance between professional and casual so they connect with you on a personal level. Avoid sending messages that sound like form letters or copy-and-paste replies. Include candidates’ names and don’t be afraid to be informal to some extent, as candidates may be more likely to respond positively to messages that appear directed to them and read like a human wrote them.

3. Know when a text message is appropriate

Text messages can’t completely replace emails and phone calls. The times when a text message is better than an email are mainly when you want to remind candidates about details you already discussed in a phone call, follow up with candidates after you’ve completed an interview or invite a candidate who applied in the past to interview for a new opportunity. If you need to go into greater depth, a phone call is usually better.

4. Keep everything organized

To avoid sending the same information twice, losing track of promising candidates or letting too much time pass between communications, try to keep your campaigns organized. This can be a challenge when you’re managing conversations with multiple candidates who are all vying for the same position at your company.

What to remember when creating an SMS recruiting campaign

Some things to remember when you’re using text messages to recruit include the following.

1. Always let people know they have a choice to receive messages

Your candidates value their privacy, so let them know you respect them by giving them the chance to opt out of future messages. Some businesses take it a step further and only send messages to candidates who choose to receive messages.

2. Don’t become a nuisance

Sending hundreds of messages to a long contact list can backfire if recipients begin to complain to their phone carriers. Try to send messages at appropriate times and don’t overwhelm your candidates with multiple messages per day.

3. Know when to remove people from your contact list

You don’t need to wait for someone to opt out of your messages before removing them from your contact list. You can send messages with questions that make it clear whether people are still interested in hearing from you. For example, you could send a message that asks if the person on your list is still using the phone number or if they’re still looking for a job. If you receive a reply that indicates the person isn’t looking or interested in hearing from you, the automation software can remove the contact from the list automatically.

4. Catch up with former employees and candidates

Don’t be afraid to send messages to former workers or candidates as long as you also let them know they can opt out of communication. Staying in touch with people that you’ve interviewed or who worked with your business in the past can increase your networking ability and give you leads when you’re recruiting new talent.

5. Automation is essential

Using an automated system keeps you organized, allows you to check your message history with a few clicks and helps you send targeted messages to people based on criteria you decide.