We’re excited to bring you a guest blog post this week! More info on author, Ken Rhie, at the end of the post.
Recruiters are catching on that text messaging is a useful tool when it comes to finding the best candidates for a job opening. Text messaging for recruiting is fast, easy to use, and will reach a wide demographic of job candidates when used effectively. Millennials are the most active candidates on cell phones, and they prefer communication through text messaging over emails and phone calls. When you are a recruiter looking for the most qualified candidates, you have to find ways to reach out to potential recruits that are effective.
Text Messaging Gives You a Speed Advantage
While emails and phone calls are still useful when it comes to reaching out to potential recruits, text messaging is much faster. Text messages are read quickly, with the majority of text messages read within the first couple of minutes. Emails can take days to be opened, and that’s if they don’t go to a spam folder. Phone calls from unidentified numbers often go unanswered, so this is not usually the best way to make a cold contact with a new recruit. When you have a job opening and the demand for qualified applicants is high, you want to be as fast as you can when it comes to making contact with a potential candidate.
Keep Your Messages Personalized
If you send out too many texts, potential applicants are going to opt out of your texting campaign. Each message you send out to potential recruits should be informative and necessary. When candidates sign up to receive text messages from you after registering on a job board, you need to make sure you are selective when it comes to the messages you send. Be clear who the message is from and what you are offering to the potential job candidate. Don’t send out listings that aren’t relevant to the candidate, as they will begin to ignore what you have to say.
Remember Who You are Texting
While the ability to text may be a unique selling point for one candidate, many older candidates find text messaging unprofessional. Consider your audience and the type of employee you are trying to attract. If your job is better suited to those that are 45 and older, you may want to use email and phone calls as the first point of contact between you and the recruit. While you can still implement text messaging at times, the first contact should be a phone call or email for older applicants.
Text During Business Hours
Just because you can text any time of the day, doesn’t mean you should. Stay professional by texting during business hours. Applicants will be able to answer a text message on their personal phone, even if they are work at the time they receive your text. If you text in the middle of the night to schedule a job interview, the candidate probably won’t appreciate that message. Most candidates don’t want to think about their job search on the weekends or in the middle of the night, and a text message will be seen as obtrusive.
Texting is an excellent tool to add to your recruitment strategy. Keep in mind that younger applicants prefer texting, while older applicants tend to feel that this is an unprofessional way to start a business relationship. Take your time to think about your messages, and don’t send vague or useless texts out randomly.
To learn more about how integrating an SMS software can improve your recruitment process, click here!
Author Biography:
Ken Rhie
Ken Rhie is the CEO of Trumpia, which earned a reputation as the most complete SMS solution
including user-friendly user interface and API for mobile engagement, Smart Targeting, advanced
automation, enterprise, and cross-channel features for both mass texting and landline texting use
cases. Mr. Rhie holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. He has over 30 years of
experience in the software, internet, and mobile communications industries.