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

Millenials

[tattood]

Its not surprising that the Millennials, who spend a lot of their time texting on their phones, like to be contacted by texts.

Re:Millenials

[boskone]

The other thing that email is UNIQUELY great at is for having more than a few bytes of info.

Great, you're hired.

OK, sure, that could be text or call or email, but WtF are the next steps?

Employment packet? Call Tim in HR to schedule your background check? What's his number again, here, let me find a pencil and write that down

or send me a fucking email with the info I need.

again, fine if some people want to hear via text they got it or not, but even the text would need to include "look for an email with details"

BTW, it's never just "you're hired"

it usually is "we'd like to make you and offer"

then you dicker on start date and pay. I don't really want to do that via SMS.

maybe i'm doing it wrong, but I actually like to get a useful amount of information, beyond twitter length

Hai u haz job?

[zifn4b]

Hai u haz job? I haz i wud lik to offr u, u intersted?

Or u could just go straight to the employer equivalent of Tinder. Ideal candidates will have exceptional rap battle skillz.

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.

Re:More ways to shoot yourself in the foot

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you for contacting me about this opportunity. I promise I will beat a harp worker for you.

*beat a harp worker

*BE A HARP WORKER

*HARD, HARD, DUCKING AUTOCORRECT!

Re:I am extra partial to blowjobs

[PopeRatzo]

Texts are so 2000 and late. You give me a good blowjob, you got yourself an interview.

This was the original idea for The Apprentice.

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.

[chispito]

As someone who's slightly outside of that demographic, I'd appreciate the text because it lets me move the process forward without announcing to all the coworkers in a 50 foot radius that I'm job hunting.

Re:Codding childrens needs.

[Quince alPillan]

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.

Actually, being able to video conference in with the hiring manager is a boon when the hiring manager is at the other end of the state or across the country. It isn't 'pandering' or 'coddling'. It's a flat out necessity when you're unable to find the ideal candidate locally and flying potential candidates in is really expensive.

I've found that it's fairly common for recruiters to recruit ideal candidates from around the country, even for jobs that aren't telecommute positions.

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.

Re:Codding childrens needs.

[mx b]

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.

The linked article never said anything about rude or impersonal, where did you get that? It just said the phone is most convenient, and that's kind of a 'duh', isn't it? Not just texts, but email and websites can be accessed by mobile phone, at any time.Of course people are going to say they prefer that to sitting around at home staring at a landline or PC waiting for the call/email. I'm sure people in the '90s were saying "These young people can't live without their internet and email, why can't they just pick up the phone and call? Phones are much more personal!".

One of my biggest gripes with job applications these days is the complete lack of communication. I have no idea if my resume is being process, was rejected, or simply fell into a black hole and was never received. I'd like some feedback since I put some time and effort into applying for a job they took the time and effort to post for, especially because I might get an offer from a different job that wasn't my first choice and it would be nice to weigh the options if I have a chance at both. I think texts would be a perfect communication channel for this. A quick text of "Your resume was received and we'll get back to you", followed up with a request to set an interview time or a generic "Thank you for applying, we filled the position!" would be fantastic just to keep me in the loop. Wastes less time for everyone. Again, the article didn't say they expect interviews over text message, just that applicants feel more positive when texts are used as part of the process (which I interpret as the communication channel for updates as I said).

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.

Who says its pandering or coddling, or that millennials are too lazy to go in? There's plenty of reasons for both sides to enjoy video interviews: easy to schedule around a busy schedule (no travel time or sitting in traffic, in a rush to get back to another job or event; after all, interviews take place during the work day, so who can go on interviews easily when you don't already have a good job with paid time off?), saves money (interviewee saves parking fees, bus fare, gas, etc., and interviewer saves money particularly if the candidate is out of town and they don't need to pay to fly them in for an interview; remember also that every minute spent in the interview is the employer spending money on the salary of the interviewer, video interviews can be used as quick screening much easier than bringing someone in for a full day interview), and maybe using such tech is now an important skill in a now global economy (do you fly people half way around the world for a business meeting, or just video call them?).

Millennials are adapting to changing economics and job market, as well as technology, cut them some slack.

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.

Re:What's wrong with email?

[belg4mit]

I don't know, but many companies don't even bother to send confirmations/denials by email, I cannot imagine they'd be any better at doing so with SMS.

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.

I guess I will be showing my age here...

[ControlsGeek]

But for my first real job I was invited to the interview (and physical exam) by telegram.