Any business expert will tell you that bringing in the best talent is essential to the success of your organization. However, with so many companies fighting to recruit the best candidates, the recruitment process can be challenging to say the least. Fortunately, businesses looking to hire new talent can now use group texting services to improve the effectiveness of their recruitment programs. Follow these 7 tips to get the most out of group SMS messaging for recruitment.

1. Attract Qualified Candidates with Mobile Keywords

Most recruiters rely on job posting websites to collect applications to their various job openings, but both recruiters and candidates find this process to be tedious, ineffective, and impersonal. In fact, almost 72% of candidates report having a poor experience and talk about it online. It’s time to evolve from traditional recruitment methods, and mass texting through text keywords is the perfect solution for getting faster data collection, personalized communication, and an increase in qualified candidates.

Utilizing specific keywords, such as “SALES” or “MARKETING”, you can attract qualified applicants to opt themselves in to your contact lists. You can then send each list job applications relevant to their interests and experience to ensure all potential applicants at least have the basic qualifications.

2. Send Job Openings to Qualified Candidates Via Text Messaging

In most cases, multiple qualified candidates will apply for the same job within your company. Unfortunately, you can only choose one of these individuals to fill the opening. The others will be required to look out for openings in the future. While some of these candidates may continue to look for new positions within your organization, others may be too busy or discouraged to keep checking back with your company and move on to other opportunities.

Texting provides a consistent solution for staying in touch with potential candidates, as 97% of American adults text daily and overall 98% of texts are read. With mass text messaging, you’re able to send announcements about new job openings to qualified candidates with a single click. Sending these announcements through the most widely used communication platform will ensure that the most qualified and interested prospects know about any openings.

When considering group texting for your recruitment, find a service that provides a multi-channel feature to create the broadest reach. 64% of recruiters are already using social media to facilitate communication between candidates and the organization, so implementing multi-channel communication ensures that all potential candidates have seen your job posting and avoids losing candidates to the competition.

3. Remind Applicants About Important Deadlines

In some cases, job candidates may begin an application and forget to complete it. Incomplete applications translate to lost opportunities, which might make you miss out on that perfect candidate. In order to get prospects to finish their applications, you can schedule automatic text reminders to guide applicants through every step of the process. From submitting their application to scheduling an interview, prospects will be familiar with what steps to take next.

Two-way texting is the best way to collect essential documents and information from applicants in a timely manner. Simply ask for information that needs to be submitted by a certain date, and allow candidates to text in the information when it’s convenient for them. You can then send deadline reminders to all of these individuals quickly to guarantee deadlines are met.

4. Keep Candidates Informed About Their Application Status

Waiting to hear back from your company after submitting an application can be both difficult and frustrating for job candidates. In some cases, a qualified candidate may even take another job offer because he or she hasn't heard anything from your company and is afraid to wait any longer.

Instead of leaving job candidates to worry or call your company for application status, use group texting to send them status updates on a regular basis. For example, you can send an automated notification when an application has been received, reviewed, or placed on a list for interview. Texting is the most used form of communication for American adults under 50, making applicants feel comfortable when receiving this information through a quick text.

5. Save Time with Mass Messaging

Calling each candidate every time you need to give an update, schedule an appointment or ask for more information wastes valuable time. With texting you can automate many of these processes in order to save time and money. Furthermore, different staff members involved in the recruitment process can use SMS to swiftly collaborate with one another, which improves the your recruiting process even more.

Automation coupled with texting produces the highest return on your investment. Calls cost several dollars per conversation, but texts cost pennies per conversation. Texting not only costs less than a phone call, it allows both recruiters and candidates to avoid lengthy phone conversations.

6. Text Interview Reminders to Candidates

When you have scheduled an interview with a qualified candidate, nothing is more frustrating than being stood up. Not only have you missed out on a potentially valuable employee, but you have also wasted time and valuable resources. With a read rate of 90% within 3 minutes, you can use SMS messages to send automated reminders to individual job candidates prior to their interviews in order to reduce the chances of a no-show or quickly reschedule cancellations.

You can even use two-way texting to allow an applicant to confirm or cancel their appointment electronically. Having a personalized conversation through texts to schedule an interview makes your applicants feel valued and enables them to schedule at their own pace. A strict time or date for an interview can lead to lost interest and deter a candidate from showing up, so finding a noninvasive, personalized method will increase interview turnouts.

7. Send A Final Decision via Text Messaging

When you have made a decision on an application that doesn't require a one-on-one conversation, you can use group texting to inform applicants of the decision. Nearly 70% of employees think their organization should use text messaging to communicate with employees, and the same goes for applicants. Today’s applicants prefer quick communication, and with texting being 10x faster than phone calls, it is the best way to keep everyone informed. You can also quickly announce a filled position and send an automated notification to all of the candidates interested in that position.

These seven tips merely scratch the surface of potential benefits from using texting to recruit. For more ways to utilize texting to get the best candidates possible, click here!