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Is your mobile phone within reaching distance right now? Do you feel a subtle lift in your mood (aka a release of dopamine) when you receive an SMS? Would you be more likely to check and respond to an SMS faster than you would answer a phone call?
If you answered ‘yes’ to the last question, you fit with the findings of a recent survey of 108 recruitment industry professionals from around the globe. The survey found that candidates respond to SMS twice as fast as a phone call, and three times faster than an email.
Recruitment challenges
The same survey identified that the biggest common challenge in recruitment is capturing the candidate’s engagement and getting them to respond in a timely way.
This is because:
- Candidates are not checking voicemails, or not listening to the entire message
- Reaching candidates via a phone call is particularly difficult during business hours
- Market trends are changing, namely, people prefer SMS over calls and emails
The reasons weren’t limited to the above, but all boil down to the same issue: securing a candidate or confirming an offer is tough if you can’t reach the applicant. This is only exacerbated in an age where our urge to answer the phone is disappearing.
Urgency needs speed, not unanswered calls
There is great pressure to act quickly; recruiters must move fast to make an offer before good candidates are tempted elsewhere. Somewhat contradictory to this, despite the faster response time that SMS offers, the majority of recruiters in the survey still listed phone calls as their preferred method of contacting candidates, even in urgent cases.
What’s more, 21 percent of those who took part in the survey still aren’t taking advantage of SMS at all. With high-quality candidates constantly being approached by internal and agency recruiters, are you happy for your competitors to have the edge over you?
Only slightly less shocking than this statistic is that out of those respondents who do use the channel, almost half (46 percent) don’t track it in their CRM or HR software, creating a potential minefield of lost messages and duplicated efforts to make contact.
Don’t lose the race to place candidates
Blockbuster vs Netflix is a real-life example of how failing to evolve with what your market wants could leave you trailing behind – in this case, how your candidates like to interact. If email and phone calls suddenly seem like a drain on your time, or your SMS tracking isn’t up to scratch, now’s the time to take action!
Make SMS work for your recruitment strategy
Now you know the facts, here are some tips on how you can work SMS into your communications strategy:
- Create a more seamless candidate experience by sending and tracking SMS within your CRM/HR software
- Save time by obtaining quick confirmation of interest from large numbers of potential candidates in one send
- Include short URLs to provide more information, such as job descriptions, and track clicks
SMS can be used in many ways in recruitment, such as sending job alerts or interview reminders to candidates to reduce no-show rates. Reach out to candidates you haven’t contacted for a while and communicate via SMS throughout the process.
Find out more
Workflow SMS is provided by MessageMedia. Contact us to learn about how Kyloe can help you incorporate SMS functionality into your Bullhorn software.
About MessageMedia
MessageMedia is a mobile messaging solution that helps businesses of all sizes – from SMBs to enterprise level – better connect with customers. With 90 percent of messages read within 90 seconds and 40,000 customers worldwide, MessageMedia drives business success by creating engaging mobile experiences that customers love.
Messaging solutions such as alerts and notifications, billing and payments, appointment reminders, marketing, and staff scheduling are used by leading brands in healthcare, education, retail, utilities, and other industries.
With offices across Australia, United States, United Kingdom, and New Zealand, MessageMedia is your number one choice for easy and engaging global business messaging.
Author: Lauren Miller
