Tips for Successfully Using Text Messaging to Recruit New Employees

*Red Seal Recruiting is pleased to welcome Ken Rihe, CEO of Trumpia, to share his thoughts with us as a guest author! If you are a recruiting professional and would like to submit a post on our blog, please contact [email protected].
Once you’ve made the decision to utilize SMS for recruiting, you need to learn how to use it effectively. While you’ll be able to reach your entire list of subscribers within minutes, you don’t want to be overly promotional or annoying. Your focus should be on growing your list of subscribers, sharing only relevant, useful information, and building up a relationship with potential recruits to make your job easier over time. When you want to use text messaging to reach out to potential job candidates, here are some tips to follow as you implement this strategy:
Understand That Annoying Recruits Is Detrimental to Your Recruitment Efforts
When you have a growing list of subscribers who are interested in working for your company, you have to address your candidate’s needs. In part, you have to be selective as to who receives certain messages you send out. For example, you don’t want to keep sending out job notifications to your entire pool of subscribers. Know who is receiving each message, and create lists for specific types of jobs that you have available. When you send out text messages that are useful, people will continue to receive them. If you send out mass text blasts to everyone that aren’t helpful, you’ll begin to lose subscribers.
Create Targeted Contact Lists
To keep your messages personal, use the tools offered by your text messaging software. Take the time to create targeted lists so that you can tailor the messages you send out to the right candidates. The more personal and informative the messages are, the more likely your potential recruits will remain as a subscriber to your text messages. You can track performance of your marketing efforts and provide your candidates with information that is relevant at the same time.
Learn Basic Text Message Automation Skills
Many tasks can be automated with text messaging, speeding up the recruitment process dramatically. You can send out reminders the day before an interview, ensuring that candidates don’t forget the date. You can set up the system to send out requests for additional information that hasn’t been received automatically. When you begin to implement automated text messaging into your recruitment strategy, you will find that you have more time to spend on more creative tasks
Collaborate with Other Recruiters
When you want to know what works when it comes to text messaging and recruitment, collaborate with other recruiters trying to figure out strategies. Many recruiters feel as if they have to fly solo in order to avoid competition, but this is simply not true. Talk with other recruiting professionals in your area, or find a support group online to discuss recruitment strategies. You’ll be able to run your ideas past a group of other professionals in the field, an invaluable way to improve your recruitment efforts.
As a recruiter, text messaging can be the ultimate tool for communicating with potential recruits. Remember to keep your messages relevant, and work on timing your messages well. Texting can be used for efficient, direct communication, speeding up your recruitment process and get you the results you deserve.

Ken Rhie is the CEO of Trumpia, which earned a reputation as the most complete SMS solution including user-friendly user interface and API for mobile engagement, Smart Targeting, advanced automation, enterprise, and cross-channel features for both mass texting and landline texting use cases. Mr. Rhie holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. He has over 30 years of experience in the software, internet, and mobile communications industries.