Put text recruiting to work.

Get your jobs and your brand in front of the right candidates, at the right time — and nurture better relationships with prospects. See how texting is transforming recruiting.

Hero Image SMS for Recruitment

In today’s competitive job market, anything you can do as a recruiter to better connect with candidates will help you hire the best people.

Well, we’re here to let you in on a secret. Text recruiting — that is, using SMS as a key channel for communicating with prospective candidates and new hires — can make a big difference to the success of your recruitment strategy.

What is text recruiting?

Essentially, text recruiting is when you use SMS to support your recruitment process. You can use it to reach out to job hunters, connect with candidates, tee up interviews, and so much more.

You could even use text recruiting to send out a winning message. Like, “Great news, Sam, you’ve got the job. I’ll call you soon to nut out the details.”

Using text to recruit is a powerful addition to your broader recruiting toolkit. It’s a quick and easy way to make meaningful connections with candidates — and it might just help you land the top talent.

Here’s why text recruiting works.

Text messages are the first thing people check after being away from their phones. In fact, 65% of people check their text messages at least 11 times a day, and 30% reply in 1 to 2 minutes. No other communication channel comes close.

It’s why leading recruiters are adding text recruiting to their overall recruitment strategy. With SMS, you can:

Boost your reach.

When you need to get in touch with candidates, what are your options? You’ve got the phone, of course (but, who picks up these days?). You’ve got email (but you may have to wait for a response). You’ve got social channels, too. And you’ve got SMS.

Don’t get us wrong. All these channels work. They all have their time and place in the recruitment process — there’s no winner in the ‘best channel’ stakes. But by adding SMS, you effectively boost your reach and potentially connect with some candidates that you may otherwise miss.

Certain messages suit certain channels — see what channel suits, and when.

Reach top talent faster.

Want to get an offer out to someone faster than your competitors do? Send a quick text message, telling them to check their inbox for the paperwork.

Need to notify a bunch of potential candidates about a new job opportunity? Send a bulk SMS to all the job hunters on your list, at the click of a button – with a link to the job description on your website. Or try sending a personalised mobile landing page.

Be seen by more candidates.

With 90% open rates and cut through, you can rest easy knowing your text messages are more likely to be seen.

So, if you need to make a last-minute change to a job interview time, send a quick text. Or if you want to make an offer a candidate can’t resist, get on the text-line with full confidence that they’ll get the memo.

Make life easy-as-pie for recruiters.

With the right SMS service behind you, texting for recruiting purposes is super simple. You can send bulk SMS from your computer, set up automated messages and replies, and reuse common templates.

To show your candidates how much you care, you can easily personalise each message. And you can track it all from one central dashboard, so you know exactly where things are at.

See more reasons why you should send text messages from your computer, not your phone.

Brush up on text messaging trends.

Sinch MessageMedia Playbook Stack

Hit the ground running with text recruiting.

Now that you’re sold on the benefits of SMS recruiting, let’s explore how you can hit the ground running with your texting strategy. Keep the following tips and best practices in mind.

First, you’ll need an SMS platform.

As we explained above, using an SMS platform like Sinch MessageMedia helps you reap even more benefits from text recruiting. By making it easier to automate, personalise, and replicate messages, your team has more time to focus on what matters — building quality relationships with candidates.

Look for an SMS provider that:

  • Makes set up easy
  • Helps keep your database clean
  • Protects against accidental (aka awkward) sends
  • Lets you choose your phone number
  • Integrates with your existing tech stack
  • Is clear about costs

Learn more about what to look for in your SMS provider.

Then, get permission from candidates.

Before you start sending SMS to candidates and new hires, you’ll need their permission. This has to do with text messaging opt-in and opt-out rules which apply to all businesses across the United Kingdom.

It is good practice to confirm a candidate’s opt-in in the first message you send to them. And if you’re planning to send messages (for example, if you send out new job vacancies to all prospects in your list), you’ll need to include clear opt-out instructions.

If a candidate initiates a text chat with you — for example, they might send an SMS enquiring about a job you’ve just advertised — then you usually have implied permission to text them back.

Wrap your head around SMS compliance and best practice.

Note our rules are not complete – it’ll be up to you to know and abide by all content and consent rules.

Don’t forget to mind your manners.

Texting etiquette. It’s a thing. Just like you wouldn’t phone a candidate late at night, there are certain rules around when and what to send via text message.

For example, you wouldn’t want to tell a candidate who made the final round of interviews that they didn’t get the job via a text message, would you? Nor would you want to put sensitive information like salaries into an SMS. It just doesn’t look the goods.

As well as these no-no’s for recruitment messages, there are some general best practices to keep in mind — which apply to any type of text. Brush up on 10 golden rules for business texting.

Take recruitment texting for a spin.

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Text recruiting templates to get you going.

Not sure what to write in your text messages? Use the templates below as inspiration — simply customise them to suit your brand and business.

1. Responding to a candidate who applies for a job.

SMS template responding to a job candidate
TEMPLATE: Hi [Name], thanks for your application. We’ll be in touch next week. In the meantime, learn more about [Company] here: https://nxt.to/j9Jt4jm

2. Booking a pre-screening call.

SMS template booking a pre-screening call
TEMPLATE: Hi [Name], hoping to have a chat about [job]. Can you please confirm times that work for a 15 minute conversation? Thanks, [Name] from [Company].

3. Booking an interview.

SMS template booking an interview
TEMPLATE: Hi [Name], congratulations, you’ve made it to the interview stage for [job]. Find out more at: https://nxt.to/2kP64gE

4. Asking for feedback on an interview.

SMS template asking for interview feedback
TEMPLATE: [Name], thanks for interviewing with [Company]. We would like to offer you a 2nd interview and get feedback on how it went. Find out more at: https://nxt.to/j9Jt4jm

5. Confirming an interview time.

SMS template confirming interview time
TEMPLATE: Hi [Name], confirming that you’re booked in for an interview at [Time] on [Date]. We look forward to meeting you then. Find out more: https://nxt.to/pClJj2E

6. References reminder.

SMS template job references reminder
TEMPLATE: Hi [Name], quick reminder to send us your references so we can continue with your application. Thanks, [Name] from [Company]

7. Make an offer.

SMS template make a job offer
TEMPLATE: Congratulations, [Name], we’re delighted to offer you a position with [Company]. Keep an eye on your inbox for next steps.

8. Thanks, but no thanks.

SMS template job application not successful
TEMPLATE: [Name], thanks for your application. Unfortunately, you weren’t successful in reaching our interview stage. Good luck on your job hunt.

Ready to get started with text recruiting? Here’s how.

To see how easy and impactful text recruiting can be, start your free trial on The Hub, our SMS platform, today. The Hub also works with WhatsApp and other conversational channels, making it easier than ever to stay connected with candidates. Get started for free.

FAQs about text recruiting.

Some things shouldn’t be said over SMS. (Here’s looking at you, relationship break-ups.) If a candidate has made it through a couple of rounds of interviews, you shouldn’t send a “We’re sorry, you didn’t get the job” text. That’s a phone call.

And use email to send sensitive documents like employment contracts, or to negotiate salaries. You can text them a heads up to check their email though.

But for quick and simple messages, like interview reminders, follow-ups, or job alerts, SMS for recruiting is ideal.

Great question. Look for a texting service that easily integrates with the platforms and tools your team uses today.

Plus, one that makes it as easy as possible for your recruiters to hit the ground running with SMS — and free up their time to focus on hiring top talent.

Learn more about what to look for in your SMS provider.

You sure can. It’s a great way to get messages out to candidates — and, with Sinch MessageMedia, you can use your existing email service. Simply send an email to us, and we’ll convert it to a text message and send it to your candidate. And vice versa – we can also forward any replies you recieve straight to your email.

Learn more about how to convert email to SMS.

We sure do. Our platform easily integrates with Zoho Recruit, as well as many other CRM and ERP platforms.

Check out all of our integrations.

Ready to roll?

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