A short message or text message has been prevalent since the time mobile phones came into existence. But this messaging service has been used for marketing since more than a decade back. Today, with the onset of emails and social media, many marketers underestimated the power of SMS text messages for advertisement and recruitment of workforce for their companies. But the current scenario today is of saturation and with the number of spam emails coming in everyone’s inboxes and useless ads on social media, people have begun to take social media advertisements not too seriously. In the entire context, SMS text messages have retained their importance.
Recruiters use this messaging service alongside other methods to hire employees for their company. Many other popular text messaging apps like Viber and Whatsapp are widely used by people for recruitment. Emails are likely to remain unread while text messages have 99% open rate. So if you want to recruit candidates via SMS text messages, you need not worry that the target people might not read them. As these messages are short, people find it quick and easy to read them and also perceive them as important.
Business Writing Etiquette for Recruiting Via Text Messages:
A text message sent for recruitment has to be professional, crisp, to the point, and short. A long message or an informal one might make the target candidates uncomfortable or they might not take you too seriously. Here are some pointers to keep in mind while sending SMS text messages for recruitment.
Send Short Messages
People often find it boring or hard to read long text messages on their mobile phones. If you have a longer message to convey, it is best to call them or email them. If you are sending brief texts for recruitment, you can send around 140 characters long in an impressive way to attract the reader.
Use Templates
While recruiting candidates, it is possible that you need to send similar messages multiple times. To make your task easier, you can send SMS templates. You can create SMS templates using certain applications available on iOS and Android phones.
Send Professional Looking Messages
When you send messages via text, you might be sending casual messages. But when you send text messages for recruitment, you need to send professional-looking messages. These should never have emojis, abbreviations,s or slang language. Also, ensure that you are sending your messages to an independent recipient. Make sure your messages are error-free and to-the-point.
Be Organized
While you are recruiting candidates for your firm or outsourcing recruitment for another firm, you need to build a good rapport of yourself by appearing as organized, professional and punctual. When sending text messages service, ensure that you have the candidate’s mobile number and confirm on the interview dates. Use mobile apps to help you manage your information in one location. A good example is Workable – which is an excellent Applicant Tracking System that is available on Android and iOS. It can help you communicate with your candidates and manage your workflow efficiently.
Speed up Hiring Process by RSVP
You can use the text messaging appointment service with confirmation (RSVP) to speed up your communication with the candidates and save time. You should first select all the eligible candidates from your contact list and then send an RSVP confirmation text to ensure who is coming for the interview and who is not. This will help you be organized and have a list of people filling up for a shift. Everyone who is selected should receive a message alert about the available shift. Employees can reply to the text messages by confirming or declining the request and you can receive all the responses on your email. To send bulk messages, use text to email services and a 2-way text message service. These services also allow employees to text-in for time-off/sick day requests. These services can also be used to send staff alert text messages when you need to notify them of a schedule change, swap, or open shift.
What to Avoid while sending SMS Text Messages:
Do not send a text if you have met your potential client only once. This will only result in spamming candidates. Send them messages only if you have received some kind of confirmation from them.
Also, invest some time in drafting your messages properly. Use text messages only when it is important and avoid mass messaging. Sending mass messages might hamper your company’s reputation.
Do not send messages after your office hours or during holidays.
Do not send messages using your personal phone number. Only use SMS messaging apps or your business cell phone.
If you use text messages for recruitment in the proper way, it will be very helpful for your company. Sending SMS text messages in the right way will make your work easier and effective.