Text Recruiting: How to keep your candidates engaged

Texting is a sneaky mode of communication, so-called “fingered speech.” If you think about it, we’ve now found a way to write as we talk. Nobody really worries about adding upper case letters or punctuation when one texts. But again, do you think about those things when you talk?

If so, what does texting have to do with recruiting? According to Emissary, only 24 out of 121 emails are opened per day by an American employee. In comparison, an American sends and receives an average of 94 text messages every day, with a response rate of 80%. Yes, 80% of the response rate! If used as a major communication tool, text recruiting can be a show stopper for recruiters and may help reduce time-to-hire. Here is a Text Recruiting guide for you to understand!

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Tips on Effective Text Recruiting

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Candidates in today's youth anticipate being texted. Text messages are preferred by 73% of job seekers for receiving tailored job prospects. People crave connection and engagement with businesses more than ever. As the trend of text recruiting is growing, more recruiters are joining in. And less priority is being given to one's gut feeling in hiring.

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1. Reach out to candidates on social media: (Where to text)

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You might first need to use the existing resources to text qualified candidates for the opening. Social media is an excellent area to locate new applicants. Social recruitment tools, and platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, etc., work a great deal to accelerate your candidate pool. Look out for employee referrals, previous applicants, and similar sources, in addition to social media.

Note: A country may have its own SMS restrictions. You may want to research and spend some time checking the SMS legislation to avoid any legal issues, for the nations you'll be contacting. For example, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act in the United States restricts telemarketer communication via text messaging, faxing, and other comparable services.

Are you actually looking for ways to hire virtually? Read here: How to Hire Someone You've Never Met in Person

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2. Frame your message well: (What to text)

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As a general rule, try to keep your messages under the 160-character limit. If you tend to be wordy, it could be useful to try a text summarization tool to communicate more concisely. Identify yourself at the very start of the chat, along with the job title, description and your organization name. You're most likely not the first recruiter a candidate has contacted. Potential employees may not be able to tell which job position you are talking about.

Also, include call-to-action in the initial text you send to the potential hires. For example, if you text someone about a job vacancy, you may want to add a link to the application. The idea is to encourage them to apply for the position. However, don't use acronyms, emojis or text jargon. These might give the wrong impression, leading potential employees to believe they are being handled unprofessionally.

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3. Choose the right time: (When to text)

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Texting candidates outside of working hours is a smart approach to ensure that they see your message, but it is not for everyone. This would be considered unprofessional by 14% of job seekers. Thus, it's a good idea to ask when they would like to receive texts from you.

Note: Taking the time to answer candidates' messages directly keeps them interested and excited about the opportunity you're providing. It's therefore important to indulge into a two-way texting method. This way, you make it easy for them to ask questions about the application or recruitment process or learn more about your company culture.

To help you hire better, benefit from these top hiring resources in 2022!

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4. Keep your candidates updated

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Applicants want to know the status of their job application after submitting it. They must be informed of any updates, modifications, or deadlines that may affect them. You can do so by employing recruitment automation to send timely messages to potential candidates. You will maintain the structured process and make it seamless for everyone involved you notify candidates about the key information.

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5. Schedule interview reminders

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While surviving the corporate world, many of us have a busy lifestyle. You can't solely rely on applicants to recall scheduled calls or interviews. So, take efforts to send follow-up texts to remind and confirm their availability for the interview. It'd be advisable to get familiar with the rise of hybrid recruiting to stay ahead of the recruitment trends.

Note: When you're framing text interview questions, keep in mind that your messages should be no longer than 140 characters. This indicates that queries should be short and to the point, while extended sentences should be avoided. This reduces the chances of an interviewee misinterpreting the question.

6. Make use of candidate assessments tools

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Creating candidate polls and questionnaires is a terrific method to quickly get basic information about them and learn more about their talents and experience. These allow recruiters to look beyond their résumé, screen out unsuitable prospects without having to spend time on the call. You may further get the opportunity to discuss the information, in-depth, with screened candidates during interviews. Some recruiters are even completely depending on texting to conduct comprehensive interviews.

Also read: The truth about applicant tracking system (ATS)!

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7. Track your recruiting progress

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You may want to keep track of all of your texts, responses and progress after choosing the right recruitment management system. This makes handling a big number of possible candidates easier. If you're waiting for a response, you may also set up automatic follow-up communications. It's critical to be mindful of the kind of information you send via text message and how those communications are logged.

peopleHum's applicant tracking system (ATS) may be fruitful in this situation. The ROI of ATS lets you assess and enhance the effectiveness of your automated workflows, allowing you to identify the areas where the timing or substance of your messages may be costing you, applicants. Reviewing this data on a regular basis helps you improve your candidate experience in the future. A few recruitment metrics to track can also be beneficial in monitoring your hiring process.

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Wrapping up!

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This Text Recruiting Guide shows how text recruiting is a more effective strategy than email, since people have their phones with them for an average of five hours a day. Look at it this way, a text message's average response time is only 3 minutes. In comparison, an email response time is 47 minutes on average. That's how you'll get a quicker response than if you contact them via email, overcoming one/fourth of your top recruiting challenges.

You may not be able to respond to their SMS 24 hours a day. Here's where peopleHum's automated, ready-to-use candidate hiring templates bridge this gap. Create keywords to automate simple queries, like verifying an application's progress or setting up out-of-hours messaging, so candidates know when to anticipate a response when they contact you.

Come explore peopleHum, now available as a mobile app! Be sure not to miss out on the best candidates. Download the app or check out our page to know more about text recruiting guide.