The numbers don’t lie:
- 97% of Americans own a cellphone.
- 73% of millennials and Gen Z’ers interact digitally more than they do in real life.
- Text open rates are 97%—compare that to email, at just 14%.
There is plenty of data showing that texting is the best form of communication for meeting candidates where they hang out. Here’s why texting should be part of your recruiting strategies.
Why Should You Add Texting to Your Recruitment Strategy?
Benefits of Texting Candidates
Texting is simply the most modern way to leverage technology to reach candidates. You can use it to connect with pipelined candidates in real-time, and if the numbers are any indication, they are more likely to read your text over sending them an email.
Texting is also beneficial for lead generation. Sending a candidate a text is particularly relevant because the volume of job applications from mobile phones is higher now than desktop computers. That’s why the mobile responsiveness of your website careers page is so important today. In 2021, almost 71% of all job applications came from mobile phones.
For candidates and recruiters, the benefits of texting include:
- Texting is convenient and fast. You can do it from anywhere.
- Recruiters can speed up communication and potentially impact time-to-fill numbers. 95% of text messages are read in the first three minutes they’re received.
- Improves the candidate experience by increasing communication and eliminating phone tag or unwieldy emails. One-half of candidates rate their application experience higher when they received text messages.
The benefit of texting is simple; candidates are engaged with their phones. It’s a common tool used in applying for jobs now. Your recruiting team needs to meet these candidates head-on in this interactive universe if you want to improve communication with these potential job prospects.
Rules for Texting Candidates
Compliance is critically important for any organization, particularly in the regulatory-laden world of HR. One of the essential requirements for texting candidates is that your correspondence is trackable. Text messages give you a form of written documentation, but only if the text is linked to an applicant tracking system (ATS) that records that data into the candidate record. Having a centralized repository of information on a candidate is the bare minimum compliance requirement that every employer should meet. In addition, recruiters should follow four basic rules for texting candidates:
- Confirm that the candidate is okay with being texted. You don’t want to come across as pushy or inappropriate. So, before the interview starts, just ask is it okay if you text them? Or, you could have a form in your job application that asks the candidate’s preferred communication method.
- Don’t send a lot of details via text. Texting is a less formal venue so it’s inappropriate for serious candidate correspondence. Use texting for follow-ups and logistics confirmations.
- Pay attention and be sensitive to timing and the content of your texts. Never send a job rejection over a text. Don’t text after business hours. At the same time, don’t be too casual. You don’t want to send the wrong impression to a job candidate.
- Use tools to manage and document your texts. Exelare is a state-of-the-art applicant tracking system that allows you to text directly from the candidate record. You can schedule candidate communications, run reports, and handle everything you need from one secure and easy to use portal.
Ready to Utilize Texting to Reach Out to Candidates?
Talk with Exelare today to find out how our tool can help you ease texting into your regular recruiting best practices.