Connect with Candidates Faster Using Phenom SMS Messaging

Did you know that 73% of job seekers want to receive text messages with relevant open jobs?

The demand from candidates is loud and clear—and now there’s a more efficient way for you to communicate with talent the way they crave.

With Phenom SMS, you can create, send, and manage SMS messages to candidates in one place—providing a faster and more efficient channel for communicating with talent.

4 Ways to Connect with Candidates

Part of the Phenom Talent Experience Management platform, Phenom SMS allows you to safely and securely text individual or multiple candidates at the same time, set up keyword campaigns to reach more talent, and chat via your candidates’ favorite messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

1:1 Text

Communicate with individual candidates to follow up on interviews, arrange next steps, communicate offers, and more.

As a recruiter using the Phenom CRM, you’ll receive a phone number associated with your profile after choosing a relevant area code. From there, you’ll gain access to a real-time SMS inbox, where you can view all candidate messages, archive conversations, and send reply texts. You can also view the conversation history within each candidate’s profile. For HR leaders in particular, this provides essential transparency into what’s happening, allowing you to identify any issues and mitigate them quickly.

Mass Text

Create and send a text message to multiple candidates at once, delivering information such as new, relevant job opportunities, upcoming career fairs, hiring events, and more.

In the Phenom CRM, you can create a Mass Text just as you would an email campaign. Instead of being sent from your assigned phone number, the SMS message is delivered via a shortcode (or a short phone number) that is automatically created in the platform. Once the message is out, Phenom Bot—our artificial chatbot powered by AI—takes over the conversation, which is also archived within the platform.

Text-for-Info

Enable candidates to text a keyword to receive information about jobs, FAQs, and events, expanding your talent pool.

Within the Phenom CRM, you create the keyword that candidates will text. From there, the sky’s the limit when it comes to where and how you publicize the keyword. Promote job opportunities and raise brand awareness locally using traditional marketing mediums, such as billboards and transit signs. Or, post signs up in your brick-and-mortar stores to capture potential job seekers in person.

Messaging Apps

Send candidates messages via their preferred applications, such as Facebook Messenger, WeChat, and WhatsApp.

SMS messages are sent and managed within the Phenom CRM, allowing you to remain as organized and productive as possible.

Pro Tip: If you’re a Google Chrome user, download the Phenom Real-Time CRM extension, which allows you to send a text from anywhere—no need to toggle across multiple browser tabs.

How it Works

There are a variety of ways to use SMS in your day-to-day recruiting strategy. If you have a chatbot live on your career site, for example, you can send an SMS message to follow up with new leads who provided their information.

Here’s another way you might use SMS to fill a high-volume position:

Let’s say a recruiter for a major retailer is filling sales associate positions across the US. To help drive applications, the recruiter creates a Text-for-Info campaign using the keyword “APPLY” in the Phenom CRM and places ads in each store that is hiring.

A customer making a purchase at the register notices the hiring ad, and decides it’s the perfect summer job. She texts the number, and automatically receives a response to confirm that she wants to receive text messages. After confirming, she receives another automated text message with a thank you message and link to learn more about the position and apply.

The next day, the recruiter sees her resume in the CRM and determines she’s a good fit to move on to the interview stage. Since time is of the essence, the recruiter decides to send a 1:1 Text to the candidate to quickly schedule an interview and coordinate logistics.

After a stellar interview, the recruiter texts the candidate to let her know a decision has been made by the hiring manager, and that they will schedule a phone call to discuss the good news.

With hundreds of more roles to fill, the recruiter’s work doesn’t end there. To prepare for a hiring event happening at their Philadelphia location in a few weeks, the recruiter sends a Mass Text to candidates in the local area informing them of the event. And the hunt for the right talent continues.

Throughout the entire interaction, the candidate is informed every step of the way. Plus, the recruiter is able to keep the process moving along more quickly.

Connect with Talent Faster Than Ever

Over the last few years, HR has experienced a spike in SMS popularity. From scheduling interviews to following up with next steps, the benefits are difficult to ignore. According to companies surveyed by Aptitude Research:

70% said time-to-fill was reduced when using text messaging as the primary form of communication
60% said quality of hire improved when using text messaging as their primary form of communication

While most of us have been texting friends and family for years, we enter new territory when applying it to the workplace. If your team has already embraced SMS but have not invested in a third-party platform, it’s time to move away from your personal cell phone to follow up on interviews and communicate next steps.

Interested in learning more about SMS with Phenom People? Sign up for a demo or contact your Account Manager today!

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