Listen to this articleTexting is the newest form of communication for companies that want to appeal to the younger talent to fill their teams. Most Millennials prefer texting instead of talking on the phone or emailing for most communication reasons. If your company wants to increase efficient communication and boost your appeal with young talent, you will want to use texting for your recruitment process.
Work Towards Efficiency
The biggest reason texting is preferred by younger generations is because it is fast and convenient. If you want your texting to be effective, you need to condense your communications. Remove unnecessary information and keep your texts within 160 characters (including spaces) so that they are not chopped up into separate texts that might be delivered out of order.
Recommended: Combine Automation with Personalization
Texting should involve two-way communication. You need to be involved, but not in every step of the process. Reduce your busywork by establishing automation for reminders, responses to actions (like a thank you for a submitted application) and information that is standard for all recruits (the office address for an interview, for example). But you will also want to be ready to respond quickly when the applicant does reach out with a response or question. Set up notifications so that you are alerted as soon as the applicant responds with something that was unprompted. Don’t leave your texting all to a bot that will make the process feel impersonal. While automation can help with timely and succinct responses to standard parts of the application process, personal communication is more meaningful and important when there are questions. A seamless combination of both strategies can make your recruitment efforts very impressive in a way that stands out from your competitors.
Establish Personal Device Boundaries
If you are setting up texting for your recruits, chances are you will integrate it for your employees as well. While texting is very efficient and a smart move for boosting communication among your team members, you need to establish boundaries in your workplace texting policy. If you are texting someone’s personal phone, you must be very careful not to make the process feel invasive. Always offer an opt-out option for new recruits. For your employees, you may want to consider company phones if texting practices are frequent and ongoing. While there is big upside to texts going straight to the phone, there is a downside if you are sending too many messages.
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Remove the Hoops
Make sure your texting process is set up to direct your users to mobile-friendly websites and forms. Help them find apps that can help them even do paperwork as soon as it is needed. The fewer hoops they have to jump through, the more likely they will be excited about your company and the more applicants you will have to choose from. Make your application as simple as possible, by avoiding all of the fields that will already be included on the resume. At the end of each step, let your applicant know what to expect next so that they do not feel unsure or confused about the process.
As you continue to refine your application process with text messaging, ask your new hires to fill out a survey about the process. Learn what you are doing right and what you could improve on to make your process even more efficient and appealing to the talent you want on your team.
Written by: Ken Rhie, CEO of Trumpia
