What is text recruit?
Text recruit is simply using text messages as a communication medium to engage and stay connected with the candidates by a recruiter.
It is a way to quickly and easily communicate with potential hires and has become a popular channel in recent years due to its convenience and effectiveness.
This can include sending automated text messages to job seekers to notify them about new job openings, scheduling interviews, or providing updates on their application status.
Why use text for recruiting? What are the advantages?
Text recruit is prevailing in the industry for a long period. But its real efficiency is getting unlocked nowadays amid the never-ending emails, spam, and call fatigue.
As people are more familiar with the usage of texts as their daily communication medium with their circles, it becomes obvious and more efficient in leveraging that for recruitment communication also.
One of the prominent advantages of text recruit is to get quick and convenient communication with job candidates.
It is often read quickly and responded to in a short time. In addition, text recruiting can be automated, which can save recruiters time and resources.
It can also help increase candidate engagement and response rates, as many people prefer text messaging over emails and calls.
Advantages
- Get instant Attention from the candidates
- High open & response rate
- Can be easily automated
- Leading to Engaging conversations, instead of formal emails
- Instant updating on both sides
- Easy ‘text to apply’ option for job seekers
How can you implement text recruit in your existing hiring process?
To implement text recruiting in your existing hiring process, you can start by collecting phone numbers from job seekers during the application process and also by extracting the mobile numbers from the existing resumes.
Once you have a list of phone numbers, you can begin sending text messages to candidates to keep them engaged and informed throughout the hiring process.
Now you can use text messages to schedule interviews, send reminders, and provide updates on the status of their application.
To automate the process, you can use text recruiting software to manage and track your communication with candidates.
Here are some tips to implement text recruitment in your existing hiring process:
1. Obtain consent: This is very much important to kickstart your text recruitment process. Before you start texting candidates, you should obtain their consent. You can do this by including an opt-in option on your job application form or by sending a follow-up email asking if they would like to receive text messages about job opportunities.
2. Choose a text recruiting platform: There are several text recruiting platforms available in the market. Choose the one that best fits your needs and budget.
3. Create a text recruiting strategy: Develop a texting strategy that includes the types of messages you want to send, the frequency of messages, and the tone and voice of the messages, categorizing the candidates based on the stages in the recruitment funnel.
4. Set up automated messages: Text recruiting software allow you to set up automated messages to be sent to candidates at different stages of the recruitment funnel, such as when they first apply, initial screening, and when they are invited to an interview.
5. Monitor responses: Be sure to monitor responses to your text messages and respond promptly to any questions or concerns. You can also use text recruiting platforms to track engagement and measure the effectiveness of your text recruiting strategy using analytics.
6. Evaluate and adjust: Evaluate the effectiveness of your text recruiting strategy regularly and adjust it as needed. This can help you optimize your hiring process and improve candidate engagement throughout the recruitment process.
Types of text recruit
There are several types of text recruit, including:
Automated text messages:
- These are pre-written text messages that are sent automatically to candidates at various stages of the recruiting process.
- They can be used to notify job seekers of new job openings, schedule interviews, or provide updates on their application status.
Two-way texting:
- This allows job seekers to respond to text messages from recruiters and engage in a conversation about the job opening.
- This can help build a relationship with the candidate and increase their engagement in the hiring process.
Text-to-apply:
- This allows job seekers to apply for a job by sending a text message with a ‘text to apply’ CTA.
- Recruiters can then review the application and follow up with the candidate if they are interested in moving forward.
Text recruiting software can provide all of these features, plus additional tools to help recruiters manage their communication with candidates.
A step-by-step guide to choose your text recruiting software
Have a clear goal:
Determine what’s the end goal you are targeting using text communication in your hiring process. It can be improving the open rate, response rate, and engagement automation. Knowing your goals will help you find software that meets your needs.
Recruitment software with ease of use:
You can choose a text recruit software that offers a user-friendly interface with a short learning curve. It should be easy to use and integrates seamlessly with your existing recruiting process.
Integration with existing tools:
If you use an applicant tracking system or other HR software, look for text recruiting software that can integrate with these tools to streamline your hiring process.
Check for compliance:
Ensure the text recruit software is compliant with relevant laws and regulations, such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
Testing before going live:
As a preventive measure, first test the software with a small group of audience and check whether it is meeting your needs and expectations effectively as planned in the process.
Features of text recruiting software
It includes the ability to send automated text messages, two-way texting for candidate engagement, text to apply options, and integration with existing HR software.
Other features may include analytics and reporting, compliance with relevant laws and regulations, and the ability to customize messaging based on the stages of the recruitment funnel.
Benefits and use cases of text recruit
Faster communication with candidates
With more attention-grabbing from the candidates, text recruit can enable a faster and more efficient way of communication between the recruiters and candidates.
Higher response rates and engagement with candidates
In comparison to emails and phone calls, which are naturally time taking tasks with low response rates, text messages are getting high open & response rates.
Improper responses are the primary reason behind candidate ghosting. With text recruit, businesses are more likely to receive a response from candidates to minimize ghosting.
Improved candidate experience and satisfaction
With the right updates at the right time for both employees and candidates, text recruit can offer a fast & positive experience throughout the recruitment process right from the application to getting selected.
Reducing unwanted workload for HRs
Text recruit can automate many of the communications that HR teams typically handle manually, freeing up time and resources for other tasks.
Employee engagement
Not only limited to candidates, but text recruit can also help HRs to have regular consistent engagement with employees in a variety of ways like reminders on special occasions, training-related updates, company news, opportunities in their career development, etc.
Increase in Productivity
With automation and sequence settings, companies can save a lot of time in follow-ups, by streamlining communication.
Improved hiring outcomes
By staying connected and having healthy engagement with candidates, leakages in the recruitment funnel can be minimized a lot, resulting in improved hiring outcomes for the companies.
Overall, text recruit is a game-changing method that can be used in a variety of ways to improve recruitment, employee engagement, and communication within organizations.
Use cases
Job postings and alerts
With text messages, recruiters can easily notify candidates regarding job openings and share links to quickly apply. This can give better results in comparison to applications via job boards.
Screening and pre-qualifying candidates
An initial screening process with the right set of questions can save a lot of time in the recruitment process.
Using text messages with multiple option questions, candidates can be quickly screened for the initial rounds to meet the minimum requirements for the position.
Interview scheduling
You can easily share the virtual meeting links or calendar invites via text messages and schedule the interview rounds seamlessly.
Onboarding the candidates
In case of onboarding after the final selection, text messages can be used to send a gist of the latest information about the company, orientation schedules, and any other quick updates necessary to convey.
Interview updates and follow-ups
Not only limited to candidates, but text recruit can also help HRs to have regular consistent engagement with employees in a variety of ways like reminders on special occasions, training-related updates, company news, opportunities in their career development, etc.
Get timely feedback
By leveraging feedback from candidates, businesses can get a lot of insights on improving their recruitment practices and funnel efficiency.
On finishing the interview process for a candidate, with a single timely message every time, you can unlock the feedback goldmine easily to analyze.
Re-engage old candidates
It’s hard to maintain the past candidates' information and reengage to attract them for the new position.
Text recruit can help here to easily re-engage them by sending a short message about the latest opening and asking about their interest in the newly opened position.
Enabling the ‘text to apply’ option to get instant applications
To enable the 'text to apply' option and receive instant applications, you will need to use a text recruit software that offers this feature.
Once you have the software set up, candidates can simply send a text message to apply for the job, and you will receive their application instantly. This can help streamline the application process and improve your time-to-hire.
Conclusion
In this new age, as more Gen-Z people are entering the workforce and millennials are moving up in their career ladders to senior positions, recruitment strategies and techniques also need to get adapted according to generation needs.
As the above-said people are stickier towards text message communication, text recruit can be a great way to leverage recruitment practices following today's trends.
FAQ
What is text recruiting software?
Text recruiting software helps recruiters to automate text message communication with all the candidates in the respective interview process, following the candidate’s stage in the recruitment funnel.
Can I text the recruiter?
Generally, from the candidate side, if you want to apply for a job, in the initial stages it is better to select any other mode of application other than texting. Once you get the response from the recruiter, it is good to communicate via text messages. At the same time, if you receive an incoming message from the recruiter, it is good to reply via text after verifying the sender.
How do you write a recruitment text?
If you are about to reach the candidates via text messages, it is better to send messages after getting consent. Based on the candidate’s knowledge about you, and their stage in the hiring process, customize the text message and add a personalization layer to get more connected with the candidate.
What is a text-based interview?
A text-based interview is an initial screening process conducted by a recruiter through text messages, to screen potential candidates who are meeting the minimum requirements. Generally, this kind of screening happens, if the pool of candidates is high for the position opted for.
