Best Practices For Texting with Candidates

As you read this, where is your cell phone? Perhaps you’re reading this blog post on your phone, or maybe sitting at your computer? Either way, we’re pretty sure your phone is close by. Did you know the average person checks their phone around 150 times a day? A communication channel right in the palm of our hand, our phones instantly connect us to the world. 

Like many industries, recruiters are now opting for mobile communication as a way to connect with their client base. Texting job seekers has proven to boost candidate engagement and increase response rates, often making it a more appealing platform over more traditional communications such as phone calls and emails.

However, before you fire off your first recruiting text message, there is a certain text etiquette that recruiters should follow. Below, we share seven of the best practices to consider before hitting that send button:

1. Create Texting Guidelines

A good starting point is to develop texting guidelines for you and your team to follow. This way, everyone is on the same page, and communication via text is streamlined across your organization. Once your team is aware of and understands your texting communication policies, this will help eliminate any confusion or issues down the line.

Create a series of templates, or prompts, your team can select from when starting or continuing a conversation with a candidate.  This will make it simple for your team to stay on brand when it comes to your employer messaging. 

2. Check The Candidate Has Agreed to Text Communication

Before you do any texting, make sure that the job seeker has agreed to receive texts from your company. A random text out the blue may put the potential candidate off and therefore hinder a response. Not to mention the potential risk you take in not being compliant with federal regulations.  

The simplest way to ensure compliance with texting regulations is by asking for consent for future SMS communications during your or upon submission of the application or talent community registration process.  While you are at it, why not ask a candidate’s preferred method of communication?   This way you ensure you are always taking your candidate’s wishes into consideration. 

3. Stay Consistent and Organized

It’s likely that a recruitment company is in contact with many job seekers at any given time. So, like any communication platform you are using, texting requires stellar organization as well as consistency. If you want texting to work in your business’s favor and help you land the right candidates in the right roles, you’ll need to dedicate enough time and effort towards it to really reap the rewards. 

Why not configure automated messaging into your recruitment process flow? This will ensure your candidates are always in the loop while taking a significant amount of communication workload off your recruitment team’s plate. 

4. Be Friendly Yet Professional

Personalize your recruiting text messages wherever you can. While your language and tone of voice can be warm and friendly, remember to keep it professional as you are discussing a potential job prospect. It goes without saying that you need to check your spelling, grammar, and use complete sentences. In addition to this, remember that a candidate may have several applications on the go, so include your name, company, and the position available. 

5. Only Use Texting For Brief Messages

Don’t replace email conversations with long and lengthy text messages. Text messaging is designed to be brief and to the point. So, if you have significant information to share with a candidate, opt for email communications instead.  However, you can use a recruiting text message to notify the candidate of an email or to set up an interview appointment to find out the information you are after. 

6. Choose Your Text Time Wisely

As a general rule, never text outside of business hours. Research shows that the majority of candidates prefer to be contacted between 9am and 12 pm. The next preferable time slot is in the afternoon during business hours. Or better yet, why not ask the candidate about the communication window that best suits them? Avoid texting outside of business hours, unless it’s initiated by the candidate. Perhaps they need to cancel an interview the night before, then you can then let me know that you’ve received the message.

7. Use a Tool Like Loop

A text recruiting platform, Loop offers you real-time recruiter-to-candidate text messaging that lets you reach candidates directly to their mobile device with our real-time chat functionality. Plus, with our text recruiting software, Loop can manage messaging consent for you with configurable messaging templates and two-factor authentication. With Loop, you can schedule interviews, coordinate logistics, send links to jobs, and much more. 

To Text or Not to Text?

To help you out, we’ve put together a list of when to text and when not to text:

A few examples of when to text: 

• Inviting candidates to a telephone or video interview
• Reminding candidates about an upcoming interview or submission deadline
• Following up after an interview to say thank you
• Notifying candidates that you’ve sent them an assessment or questionnaire 
• Re-engaging with a previous candidate about upcoming opportunities

A few examples of when not to text:

• Never offer a job via text to a candidate
• Never share the job seeker’s interview results over text
• Never, ever reject an applicant via a text message

To find out more about our text recruiting platform, contact Loop today to find out more or request a free text recruiting demo!