Over the last century, the process of reaching candidates has evolved from handwritten letters and carrier pigeons to window signs, in-person interviews, online listings, phone interviews, and now, text recruiting. While technological shifts have transformed how people communicate, these shifts have also created a more dynamic, ever-evolving business world.
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To keep up, recruiters and HR professionals must stay on the cutting edge of technology, become flexible, and keep an open mind. Read along as we venture down the road of shifting your mind-set by confronting these common recruiting misconceptions.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race? Not in Recruiting
From attracting and retaining talent faster in a competitive marketplace to nearly instantaneous response times, text-based interviewing allows recruiters to ultimately hire the right people in less time.
In fact, a team of four recruiters can save 3,689 hours each year by using a text-based screening platform. In addition, the average time to screen a candidate takes just 4.4 minutes.
Ranked among the nation’s most integrated healthcare systems, Indianapolis-based Community Health Network (CHN) first started using a text-based recruiting platform in May 2018. By the end of June, the organization had 22 recruiters trained and using the tool. To date, CHN has contacted nearly 2,000 individual applicants and obtained an 83% response rate using text-based recruiting. Before, when using traditional recruitment methods like e-mail and phone conversations, response rates typically ranged from 45%–60%.
Come One, Come All! Wrong
Recruiters spend hours, days, and even weeks trying to reach individuals who unfortunately may not even be interested in the position they’re trying to fill. However, when recruiters utilize texting as a screening tool, it ensures they’re investing their time on the phone and in-person interviews with the best talent for the job. Beyond phone screening, texting is also more effective than e-mail, which typically requires longer response times.
Texting is a great option for organizations and recruiting agencies of all sizes that want to improve their job-screening process and maximize recruiter productivity. Companies from start-ups to Fortune 500s are using text-based recruiting platforms to screen and engage candidates across a variety of industries and for positions ranging from machinists and welders to software engineers, sales professionals, physical therapists, nurses, and more.
Continue the Connection
As a recruiter, connection with the candidate during the initial interview process is extremely important. But what happens if your connection is a little spotty? With traditional recruiting methods, it can take days or weeks for recruiters to get through their dreaded e-mail inbox to respond to waiting candidates. If the flow of conversation isn’t consistent, the potential employee could become frustrated and go looking elsewhere. And that’s just the beginning.
While connection is vital during the initial interviewing process, it’s just as important to continue a conversation as the candidate comes in for an in-person interview, goes out to lunch with employees, or finishes up his or her final interview. Instead of dropping the candidate at the door and patting yourself on the back for a job well done, continue that rapport and connection. The candidate will feel more at ease knowing he or she has someone to come to.
Introverted Candidates Bring Down the Office Vibe
Studies show that teams perform best when there is a balance of both introverted and extroverted members. But it is often the extroverted candidate who is more boisterous and puts his or her best foot forward during an interview, despite being up against an introvert who is just as equipped for the job.
It’s not just our workplaces that favor extroverts; recruiting methods and decisions do as well. Recruiters and hiring managers look favorably upon extroverts, who are often quick on their feet. Introverts prefer time to think before speaking, which can be a disadvantage during a 30-minute job interview. This is why text-based interviews offer many benefits for introverted (and extroverted) candidates who will appreciate being able to thoughtfully respond on their own time.
Don’t Be Vague—This Isn’t Your Dating Profile
Beyond applicant questions, recruiters should also be prepared to respond to questions from candidates about company benefits, culture, hours, and vacation policy, to name a few. Luckily, robust text-based interviewing platforms have the functionality to pull together libraries of this information that recruiters can send with a mouse click, from sample responses to company documents and even videos of the office, which alleviates time spent repeatedly articulating the same responses.
While these changes can be hard to face, the outcome of switching up your recruiting technique can only strengthen a company. Times are changing, and more technological interviewing techniques can save HR professionals time and money, ultimately enabling them to find the best candidate and employee faster and with ease.
 Aman Brar is CEO of Canvas, the first text-based interviewing platform that enables recruiters to screen more job candidates and market employment brands. With Canvas, companies have transformed their reach and engagement with talent by designing their recruitment strategies in a way that aligns with the communication preferences of today’s workforce. |