Talk to any recruiter about how timing and agile technology can make or break reaching the right candidates. Timing and technology for the purposes of recruiting can be a joy or a drudgery. All-in-all, the role of recruiting hasn’t changed, but the way we go about sourcing candidates and communicating with them has.
A Case for Texting and Mobile Recruiting
The use of texting and mobile recruiting is not just a case of using it because the technology exists, it’s builds a case for how and where people want to be contacted. Further, there are texting technologies used in recruiting that can enable recruiters to disseminate multiple job openings, and to better communicate with job seekers and candidates by eliminating missed calls, voicemail tag, and misunderstandings with interview appointments. As one of my own clients, Travis Medley, President, TalentZok recently stated in a communication to me, “We’ve recently introduced texting into our recruiting communications strategy. Texting is a game changer. The team loves it and texting has helped us in a few hires already.”
According to a survey conducted by Software Advice, 60 percent of recruiters who participated, claim to use texting as one of the communication choices in their sourcing strategy. Given there are over 1.91 billion smartphone users in the World, texting certainly makes sense for reaching massive numbers of people. This opens the door for recruiters to reach people in a more expedient manner as accessibility to communicate in a timely fashion may be the difference between a secured placement and a lost one. Further, with the number of smartphone consumers increasing every year, the number of users is expected to rise to over 2.5 billion owners by 2018 opening the door even wider for recruiters.
We live in an agile society where people are mobile and more apt to seek out technological options while on the go. When it comes to finding work, intelligent job seekers are using as many venues as they can, with mobile technology as one of the preferred options.
In a 2014 Glassdoor survey, the findings revealed that nine out of ten job seekers confirmed using their mobile device at some stage in their job search. One of the reasons uncovered in the study was the sense of urgency felt by job seekers. The assumption being that if a job was recently posted, applying to it more quickly would increase the odds of having the application seen, accepted and for the job seeker to be contacted sooner rather than later. This means that mobile consumption by job seekers is alive and well. When considering the staggering number of current-day smartphone users and the number of people seeking jobs via mobile technology, especially those in the Gen X and Gen Y population, texting as a communication method makes a lot of sense to them.
Texting and Mobile Recruiting are Here to Stay
Given everything we know about mobile and texting we can comfortably understand the impact they have on recruiting and business today and more importantly, the impact they’ll have on the future. Some researchers believe texting will replace email in the not-so-distant future. If this is true, texting for recruiting purposes will become an everyday staple in the recruiter’s arsenal of communication strategies. Knowing the younger generations use texting communication with ease is even more reason for it to be a used widely. Recruiters can better access the emerging generations as they enter the workforce in a way that appeals to this group of young professionals. In addition, recruiters will need to manage the expectations of candidates along with turnover from a transient candidate population. PricewaterhouseCoopers reported in a 2012 global talent survey that 71 percent of respondents said they want and expect an overseas assignment during their career. The very nature of reaching people who are no longer stationary amply supports the need and impending increase in overall mobile usage.
The Future of Recruiting is Now
Recruiters face many challenges. One in particular is associated with active, mobile and transient candidates today, and this is not expected to change, but in fact, is expected to grow. Many researchers predict that based on current economic trends and the demands businesses are expected to have for attracting top candidates, supply for talent will go down but demand will increase. What does this mean for recruiters and job seekers?
For job seekers, many steps in the search process do and will continue to involve mobile and texting. These actions, or lack thereof, are going to impact their job search and career success. Successful actions include:
- Finding and applying for jobs on the fly
- Being reachable and responsive to text messages from recruiters and hiring managers
- Engaging in activities like virtual interviewing and new hire onboarding, in real time
For recruiters the engagement possibilities via mobile technology and texting are tremendous. Recruiters can:
- Post jobs that are mobile optimized or distribute them through text messaging
- Pre-qualifying the best candidates quickly for a position through the use of texted screening questions
- Sustain relationships through short but timely text messages
- Schedule interviews and send follow-up text communications
- Track candidate applications using mobile technology
Become a Texting Aficionado
Texting, as with any other form of communication, has its do’s and don’ts. For recruiters, there are recommended protocols found to be the most effective:
- Keep the message short
- Get to the point by being concise and intentional
- Don’t get too “salesy” in your approach
- Include a link to the job description to support your communication
- Let people know who you are and your company name. They’ll be less likely to think it’s spam
In recruiting, using communication through technologies that connect people faster and with greater ease should be the goal. Texting has stepped up and assumed its position among desired communication choices. This action is predicted to increase and, with that, enable the savvy recruiter to gain faster and easier access to highly sought-after candidates. If you haven’t considered using mobile technology and texting, now is the time. Observe the protocols for using them successfully and understand the magnitude of their reach and what value they hold for you and your candidates. The numbers are there to support you; you just need to start.
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