Recruiter's Guide to Texting

Introduction

Top talent acquisition professionals know that recruiting is all about building relationships. They also know that technology and tools can make that work easier or harder, depending on how they are used. Text messaging tools built for recruiters are no different. They offer enormous opportunities to improve recruiter efficiency, speed up time to hire and foster genuine connections with top talent. But, texting solutions must be implemented with a solid understanding of the underlying technologies, use cases and best practices that can help ensure success and mitigate risk.

Texting delivers higher ROI than almost any other technology or process improvement available to modern recruiting organizations… if it’s done right. Implemented the wrong way, it can create needless inefficiency and real compliance headaches. The ins and outs of successful texting for recruiters aren’t complicated, but they are important.

This guide aims to educate you about those ins and outs, so your recruiting team gets it right from the start, regardless of the specific tools or platform you choose. It offers perspective on the following key questions and lots more…

  • Why is texting important for recruiters?
  • How does texting fit in with my existing recruiting process?
  • Are there best practices my organization should employ?
  • What do I need to consider in terms of my employer brand?
  • Do I need to worry about legal and compliance issues?
  • How should I think about texting etiquette?

Why Texting Matters

The best recruiters understand that despite all of the technology available to help them, the foundation of recruiting is a constant. Talent acquisition is about building relationships.

So, why add yet another communications channel to candidates when email and phone calls have proven themselves to be so valuable in building and maintaining past relationships? The answer is that times keep changing, and so do the ways we communicate. As that happens, the effectiveness of tried and true tools also change as preferences shift.

As of 2019, 81% of Americans own a smartphone. Messaging is the number one reported use of smartphones, and only in America, 292 million people used text message. 91% percent of those users keep their device within reach around the clock. And, while emails only generate a 20% open rate on average, text messages are read over 95% of the time, often within three minutes of being received. The average response time for a text message is 60 times faster than that for an email.

Texting is Brief

Texts tend to get right to the point, which makes them easier to read and respond to.

Texting is Convenient

Candidates can respond to texts on their own time… while they’re in the elevator, waiting in line for lunch or stuck on a conference call.

Texting is Direct

Text messages are viewed as personal communications, so job seekers know they are reaching a real person.

Best Practices for Recruiting by Text Message

Even though mobile phones and texting are pervasive, it’s important to realize that communication preferences vary from individual to individual. It’s also critical to recognize that the things that makes texting such a powerful recruiting tool – that it is direct and highly personal – are the same things that make observing best practices so important.

Get Permission from Applicants

Text messages are governed by different laws and standards than email. Employers will want to consider how the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) may apply to different types of recruitment texting activity.

Consider Compliance Requirements

Text messaging activity is increasingly likely to be included in compliance audits, so make sure your bases are covered. Follow all of the same protocols—business and legal—that you would in written, email or telephone conversations.

Define Messaging Standards for Recruiters

Texting should be professional and consistent with your employment brand, just like any other type of communication. So, it’s helpful to provide high level guidelines to your recruiting team to ensure that everyone is on the same page about internal practices.

Text Recruiting Use Cases

There are as many ways to integrate texting into your recruiting process as there are topics to communicate about. Most recruiting organizations that we talk to share a common set of pain points and use cases with others. But, most also have needs or goals that are unique to their industry or organization.

Candidate Re-engagement

Text messaging is an extremely effective way to reach out to contacts to rapidly generate interest in new positions.

Initial Contact

Texting candidates to confirm that their job application has been received can be a great way to keep them engaged.

Scheduling

Interview coordination is ideally suited to texting.

Screening

Using text, they can qualify applicants faster using response templates and automated screening questions.

Internal Coordination

Some recruiting teams use texting to send interview reminders to hiring managers and colleagues, so nothing slips through the cracks.

Seasonal Hiring

Text messaging makes it dramatically easier to check in with seasonal workers.

Campus Recruiting

SMS ‘short codes’ allow students to register interest in learning more about opportunities.

Texting & Your Employer Brand

The interactions that you have with candidates are the first concrete experiences that job seekers will have with your employment brand. So, every interaction must reflect that fact, including how recruiters approach text messaging.

Texting Etiquette

Etiquette is an inherently fuzzy concept rooted in shifting cultural norms. Texting is highly personal, so we think it makes sense to reduce texting etiquette to a single, high-level principle, which is:
The Golden Rule: Respect that texting is personal.

Things to Consider

  • Texting is often viewed differently by different types of candidates.
  • Consider texting only during the workday.
  • Some recruiting conversations require a more personal touch than others.
  • Keep it friendly. Refer to the candidate by name.
  • Keep it simple. Messages should be short and direct.
  • Respond quickly. Immediacy is key.

By keeping these guidelines in mind, you are likely to stay on solid ground with your texting outreach.