With the insanely high read & response rates of texting, it’s no wonder why the vast majority of recruiters are texting with their candidates today. We speak with recruiting leaders everyday about the practice of text recruiting, and while many leaders are aware of the performance advantages of texting with candidates, many don’t realize the risks and dangers that come with using the wrong tool for the job. Speaking of ‘wrong tool for the job’ - many recruiters are still resorting to using their personal cell phones to text with candidates because their leaders haven’t provided them with a better and safer alternative.

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“It is the responsibility of recruitment leaders to ensure that they are providing their recruiting teams access to tools that help them do their job in a productive and safe manner.”

- Brian Thompson, Keeyora Co-founder

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Being recruitment leaders ourselves, we witnessed first-hand the issues that arose from allowing our recruiting team to use their personal cell phones to text with candidates (which triggered a path of research & discovery that eventually led to the creation of Keeyora). Below we uncover the top 5 hidden pitfalls that recruitment leaders need to be aware of if their recruiting team is texting with candidates.

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Staff safety risks

Staff safety should be the #1 priority for all recruitment leaders. Don’t forget: candidates are strangers - so allowing your recruiting team to share their personal contact details with the public job market puts their safety at risk. For example, we’ve heard multiple female recruiters tell us about receiving unsolicited text messages from candidates, and we’ve heard many stories about disgruntled candidates sending threatening messages to their recruiters.

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Legal compliance & obligations

Recruitment leaders need to be aware of any and all legislation that pertains to their recruitment processes. Texting for recruitment purposes falls under ‘commercial use’ in the eyes of the TCPA and CAN-SPAM regulatory bodies. This means that recruiters must give a clear and easy way for every candidate to opt-out of text messages which is something that is not possible with cell phones.

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Productivity losses

Identifying and removing productivity road-blocks is an important responsibility for recruitment leaders. Texting from cell phones can be slow and tedious which is a real drain on productivity for recruiters. Because recruiters are often sending dozens (sometimes hundreds) of text messages each day, manually inputting each candidate and using thumbs to type out each message can be a real time-suck. Additionally, mobile app social media notifications are a big distraction every time a recruiter picks up their phone to send a text to a candidate.

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Data retention problems

Storing valuable candidate information in an ATS or CRM is imperative to having a well-run recruitment operation. Text message conversations between recruiters and their candidates contain an abundance of useful and important information that should be stored in the ATS. This valuable IP belongs to the organization and should note be stored in a recruiter’s pocket.

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Respect for staff privacy & work-life balance

We don’t expect recruiters to use their personal email addresses to communicate with candidates, so why do we think it’s ok for them to use their personal cell phones to text with them? The best recruiting leaders understand the importance of giving their team members the balance and separation they need to be happy in their personal life as well as in their work life. A recruiter should be given the choice to ‘turn off’ work during their personal & family time which is near-impossible to do if they get bombarded with texts from candidates to their phone.

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Fast, two way, asynchronous communication between candidate and recruiter is key to reducing time-to-hire, improving candidate experience, and reducing ghosting and we believe that SMS text messaging is the most effective way to achieve this. We also believe that ALL recruiters should have access to specialized texting software which is why we designed Keeyora to be the easiest and most affordable solution available in the market. Learn more and book a live demo at www.keeyora.com.

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