Sorting and screening hundreds, if not more, applicants can be overwhelming as you strive to recruit the best talent. You might be invested in the screening process. Nonetheless, among the top considerations that can transform the process is how you communicate. Effective communication creates a positive experience. You’ll convey the organization’s culture, position role, and reward package with unambiguous communication. A positive experience means that even the candidates that don’t get the position are happy. This makes it easier to maintain a good reputation. You could ignore it, but a good reputation, especially in the modern market, where candidates screen organizations in sites like Glassdoor before committing, can’t be emphasized enough. As you consider ways to supercharge your communication, text recruiting is among the most effective strategies.
Text recruiting offers many advantages, especially in the modern, fast-paced world. It is fast, scalable, customizable, versatile, and measurable, to mention a few attributes. You can automate mundane tasks like interview scheduling and follow-ups. Such elements are important don’t need much candidate-recruiter interaction. This saves time and resources while speeding the recruitment process. Texts also make your organization look more approachable. This creates a good impression and better candidates’ experience, helping to tip more talent in your favor. With easy and fast communication, text recruitment improves process efficiency. Nonetheless, this is possible if you follow the best practices.
Getting the most out of text recruiting isn’t that straightforward. Some candidates might see it as unprofessional. Some don’t text, meaning that inadvertent discrimination is a concern you have to factor. Moreover, including texts in your recruitment process adds more work to your team. It is an extra communication channel that needs their attention. Liability is another concern, especially if you are sharing links. With such considerations, you need a practical strategy to ensure that text recruiting isn’t characterized by countless hiccups. Here are some of the best practices that can help you include texts in your recruitment process.
Professionalism
While texting, you often keep it casual. This shouldn’t be the case when recruiting. You want to create a more personal and approachable experience. Nonetheless, professionalism can’t be stressed enough. Maintain professionalism, including spelling and grammar. Use complete sentences. The temptation to keep it short can exude unprofessionalism that can drive some candidates off. Emojis and texts are inseparable. While it is recommendable never to use them, you can creatively include a few. But, be careful as you don’t want to rub someone the wrong way, especially if it isn’t clear.
As you text, keep it restricted to the hiring process. Some candidates might share personal information, and while you might be tempted to respond in kind, that’s a downward spiral you should avoid. You could waste more time texting without getting the message across as you get caught up in non-recruitment-related communication. Texting etiquette is the foundation stone that everyone in your recruitment should follow. With clear policies, you’ll maintain the professionalism that’ll drive more talent in your organization’s favor.
Clarity
Who are you? Candidates might have many applications in process. As such, you need to be clear to facilitate smooth communication. Start by introducing yourself, much like you do with a phone call or an email. You don’t do this with personal texting, but don’t let it slide in your text recruiting process. Tell the candidate your name and other information necessary, such as the position held and the purpose of the text. This adds to the professionalism, making it easier to convey the right message with little or no friction.
While considering clarity, it is advisable to use text for brief communications. Lengthy texts can be distracting. A text chain isn’t effective either. Among the best uses of texts in the recruitment process is sending reminders or notifications. For instance, you can use a text notifying a candidate of an email sent with all the details. Confirming an interview appointment is another excellent use of text. Such texts only need a few lines, helping to keep them brief and clear.
Timing is everything
Automation is among the top benefits of including text recruitment in your strategy. Nonetheless, you have to keep an eye on the timing. The general rule is to only text during business hours, preferably early in the morning and later in the afternoon. Nonetheless, you have to be flexible. For instance, if the candidate initiates the communication after business hours, it would help if you answered, especially if its urgency affects the engagement. For example, they might text after business hours, notifying you that they won’t make it to the interview scheduled the next day. In such a case, responding to reschedule the appointment is more productive than waiting the next day during the window of business hours. Timing affects the engagement; you want the messages read and the right action taken. As such, sticking to business hours is advisa
Know When Not To Text
ble, as it is more likely to be noticed.
Texts aren’t effective in every aspect. For instance, if the candidate makes the cut, don’t offer them the job over a text. That doesn’t create the best experience as you move them to the next phase. Rejecting a candidate is also among the moments you shouldn’t text. Simply put, don’t convey interview results via text. If the candidate doesn’t respond via texts, it is also advisable to stop communications through the channel.
As you work to improve text recruitment productivity, among the measures that can supercharge the strategy is investing in applicant tracking systems (ATS) with texting tools. An ATS with a texting function means that the recruitment team won’t use their personal phones for text recruiting. As such, it makes it easier to ensure that recruiters follow the outlined policies. The ATS stores the conversations’ history from the texts, calls, and emails, among others. This provides your recruitment team with access to the needed information. It’ll be easier to maintain productive text recruiting with such an ATS, and the above pointers help you follow the best practices. You’ll maintain professionalism and improve your reputation. It also ensures that the best talent doesn’t slip off your fingers due to poor communication.
