Unlike the old times when recruiting mainly required in-person communication or postal services, the recruiting process has significantly changed. Because today, it can be done efficiently online without the need for in-person communications. This has been made possible with the use of technologies like text recruiting software.
In this article, we’ll explore how text recruiting software works and how it can help keep candidates engaged. Keep reading to learn more.
What Is Text Recruiting?
Text recruiting involves sending text messages to candidates to engage with them before, during, and after recruitment. And considering that most people use their smartphones to go online, browse the internet, or scroll down their social media feed, the easiest way to get in touch with them and give them updates on their applications is by sending text messages to their phones.
Through various innovations in technology, text recruiting has been made more convenient and efficient using TeamSense and other text recruiting software. And due to this, many companies have adopted its use. But apart from the convenience of SMS, text recruiting software is also used because of the following reasons:
Advantages Of Text Recruiting Software
Apart from the said reasons, text recruiting software is gaining popularity in the industry because of the following benefits:
Different companies offer different types of recruitment experience; some are good while some are terrible. One factor that determines the kind of experience you offer is how you communicate with your candidates. You can choose to communicate through calls, emails, or text messages. However, a candidate might overlook or miss your calls or emails if they're occupied.
To your advantage, you can use text messages instead as they're fast, convenient, and offer a simple way of staying in touch. And with reliable software by your side, you'll be able to provide candidates with an excellent experience by messaging promptly, showing that you respect their time, and engaging when it's convenient for them.
Unlike other platforms, it's easier for candidates to get in touch with you whenever they have inquiries about the recruitment process and get feedback from their applications. Giving them updates and results in time can communicate the impression that your company is well-organized and professional. And even if some candidates don't get accepted for the job they applied for, they're still likely to speak highly of your team’s professionalism.
When using text recruiting software, you can have a chatbot instead that offers immediate response on your behalf, mainly on the frequently asked questions. Such a chatbot can help you save time, allowing you to focus on other important things besides engaging with candidates. Another thing that will save you a lot of time with recruitment is using interview scheduling software.
Challenges Of Text Recruiting Software
Everything has a good and bad side. And while the benefits of text recruiting outweigh its cons, it'd be good to also learn about them. Some cons of text recruiting software include:
As much as it might be efficient and convenient, text recruiting software can't entirely replace the use of emails during recruitment. This is because some documents can't be shared through text messages because of their size and security reasons.
The security of using text recruiting may not always be guaranteed. This is a significant concern because of the increased hacking or data breach cases in this era. But this downside can easily be combatted by ensuring you choose a platform that offers robust safety measures.
Role Of Text Recruitment Software During Hiring Process
Now that we’ve covered the basics of text recruitment software, let’s dive into how you can use it to keep job candidates engaged.
From the beginning of the recruitment process, candidates expect to be informed about the progress of each stage. The first step of recruitment that involves engaging candidates is telling them if they have passed the application stage or not. You can use text recruitment software to communicate with them their application status conveniently.
After informing your candidates about going through the application process, you can proceed to engage them in the upcoming interview process. First, you need to ask the candidates whether they'll be available on the interview date. Next, you can inform them about what they need to bring with them or what's expected of them. After receiving such information, the candidates can also ask you for more information about an instruction that might be unclear to them.
It's almost every recruiter's expectation for a candidate to keep in mind what is communicated to them. However, in some cases, candidates might forget what you mentioned regarding what is expected of them regarding interview dates, time, location, and the needed documents.
To avoid such an inconvenience, you can utilize text recruiting software to send them reminders. Not only can this ensure that they don’t miss out on any requirement or schedule, but sending them short messages to remind them of their appointment can make them feel valued and that your team is taking the time to exert effort for them. You can choose to send these reminders some days or a week before the appointment date.
You might have to deal with many candidates who pass the application process. Unfortunately, you can't add all these people to your company. This is where the interview process comes in.
During an interview, the hiring manager engages the candidate in a conversation. The goal is to cut down the number of applicants by evaluating their skills, passion, interests, and even personality to assess whether they’re a right fit for the organization or not. Those who are considered to be a valuable addition to the team pass, while those who don’t make it won’t be proceeding with the recruitment process.
Many candidates prefer knowing whether they passed the interviews or not, as the feeling of uncertainty can develop into feelings of unease, anxiety, and worry. However, in some cases, recruiters tend to skip this part due to the volume of applicants they need to process. But with text recruitment software, giving updates to applicants has been made easier.
You can quickly inform candidates how they performed in the interviews through such platforms. This information can help those who passed prepare for the next step, while on the other hand, those who didn't go through can get closure so they can start looking for other opportunities.
Sometimes, candidates might reach out to you or your company for inquiries about the application process requirements or the job description when you're occupied with other things. When this happens, you may not be able to reply as fast and efficiently, which can result in losing promising candidates for the role. This is where having text recruiting software in place can come in handy.
With text recruiting software, you can set an automated response whereby candidates can get a reply from the software before you can respond to them. You can use the automated response to thank the candidate for reaching out and informing them that you'll attend to them as soon as possible. Further, doing so will have enabled a simple two-way engagement without you stepping in immediately.
In some cases, the people who pass interviews might not be able to join you for various reasons, which include better opportunities, change of mind, and many more. This puts you in a situation wherein you need to conduct another recruitment process to fill the role.
Having a second recruitment can be tedious and exhausting as you'll have to repeat the same process. However, with text recruiting software, you don’t have to start from scratch. This is because you can use such platforms to get in touch with other candidates that had performed better but didn't get the job.
Also, as your company grows, new job opportunities may arise, and you are required to recruit more people. In such situations, you can consider hiring candidates who have applied before but, for one reason or the other, didn't pass the recruiting process. To save time, you can use text recruiting software to engage these candidates in the new vacancies and if they'd be interested in them.
Tips For Better Text Recruiting
To ensure an efficient and seamless recruitment and hiring process that can keep candidates engaged while also aiding in streamlining the process in your company, here are some tips you can keep in mind:
There are various text recruiting platforms in the market that you can use to engage candidates with. However, despite many platforms being proved efficient, you need to find the ones that will meet your needs and wants and those of your candidates.
To help you start, here are some features you need to look for when choosing which platform to use:
As much as text recruiting may seem convenient, some candidates might not appreciate it. What's more, texting without one's consent is illegal. Therefore, as soon as you choose the text recruiting software platform you'll be using, start by incorporating a phone number verification step. This ensures that the numbers are valid and that candidates are comfortable with receiving messages. After verifying, give candidates the option of opting out or continuing to receive text notifications from you. This process respects their preferences and complies with legal standards from the beginning.
Some people prefer receiving text notifications in the evening after they're done with the day's agendas. This prevents them from forgetting the received texts they couldn't attend to when they were busy. Conversely, some candidates might consider texting after working hours unprofessional and ignore your text notifications. The best way of dealing with this is by inquiring from the candidates when is the right time to send them a text message.
In most cases, reading long messages can be exhausting, especially if they're formal. This can result in a candidate losing interest in what you have to say. To avoid such incidents, keep your messages as short as possible. Be clear as to what the message’s intention is. For instance, if you’re inviting them for an interview, state concisely the date, time, and other requirements they need to bring.
Being professional in this case means ensuring that you proofread your messages before sending them. This helps prevent your messages from having grammatical errors. On top of that, it’s also best to avoid using slang vocabulary or spelling shortcuts to communicate in a professional tone.
Wrapping It Up
Traditionally most recruitment was conducted through in-person meetings, with communication mostly done via email. However, technological advancement has facilitated the use of text recruitment through the use of text recruitment software.
One of the advantages of using text recruiting software is that it helps to keep the candidates engaged and well updated on the status of their application. And with the insights presented in this article, you can start improving the recruitment process in your organization to help you achieve a convenient and streamlined process of hiring new employees in no time.
