Managers Should Start Texting Job Candidates, Says Study (fastcompany.com)

From a report: A new survey by Yello, a talent recruiting software company, has found that there are some aspects of the hiring process that companies could stand to improve. The report, taken from a survey of 1,461 young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 who were either currently employed or had accepted full-time or internship offers, found that mobile phones are one of the most useful tools for the interviewing and hiring process. Text messages, for example, may be the unsung hero of the communication loop. Yello's survey data indicates respondents would welcome getting a text from a business, particularly because they're so used to responding quickly to text messages. The report shows that 86% of those surveyed felt positively when text messages were used during the interview period, an increase from 79% in 2016. More candidates are happy to do video interviews in lieu of traveling to meet hiring managers in person.

Comments

More ways to shoot yourself in the foot

[Austerity Empowers]

With reddit full of auto-correct errors ranging from lewd to obscene, I cannot imagine the already stressful process of interviewing will be enhanced with the frustration of texting.

Codding childrens needs.

[geekmux]

"...a survey of 1,461 young adults between the ages of 18 and 30...found that mobile phones are one of the most useful tools for the interviewing and hiring process"

Translation: 1,461 young adults admit they can't live without their mobile phone, and prefer it as the tool for communicating, regardless if it's for an interview or a Tinder hook-up.

I wonder how these young adults would feel if they got fired via text message. Oh, suddenly that would be rude and impersonal? Yeah, not unlike wanting to be hired via text message.

"More candidates are happy to do video interviews in lieu of traveling to meet hiring managers in person."

I can understand if a company is having a difficult time filling a position being open to a bit more flexibility when hiring, but this kind of pandering and coddling to the social-media texting generation is rather pathetic. You want the job bad enough? Then make an effort to get off your ass and go meet the human hiring you in fucking person.

Re:Codding childrens needs.

[Anonymous Coward]

When was the last time you were job searching? The standard procedure now is initial contact via email, followed by a screener call with an HR person. This is followed by 1-2 remote interviews with a manager or someone else from the team you're applying for. I use 'remote' because this is usually on the phone, but it is extremely common for it to be a video chat on Skype, Hangouts, or Webex. If it's a technical job it usually involves some sort of coding test in a shared document of some sort.

After all that is when you actually get invited in to talk in person. Which is usually another 3-5 hour back to back set of interviews with lunch thrown in. Interviewing takes hours from both parties and video chat interviews even from the same city are the norm. It saves everybody time and effort.

Now personally I prefer email over just about everything else for scheduling. But I wouldn't be particularly bothered by a text messages. It'd certainly mean more concise to the point interactions rather than the annoying "Hi Bob. How are things? What's your availability for this week? Thanks, Joe." email chains always are.

What's wrong with email?

[fred6666]

Not being limited to 140 characters, being able to reply from a PC with a real keyboard sounds like real advantages. No reason to still use SMS in 2017, but even less for job hiring.

Fuck texts

[bigdavex]

I hate texts. I hate that some people think that texts imply urgency for my reply. I hate that I do not receive them on my computer. I hate that I cannot search through very old texts. Texts are just email only shitty.