It's all about immediate responsiveness to applicants, and the effect that action has on drawing talent into your company. Two companies that specialize in talent solutions recently published some interesting findings on this effect. Indianapolis-based talent software firm PivotCX and Virginia-based IT firm JobSync tracked about 500,000 job candidates across seven industries to understand the impact of responsiveness on engagement. Multiple major companies rely on these two firms for parts of their hiring processes, including Indeed.com, ZipRecruiter, Ross Stores, and several major restaurant chains.
The logic here is straightforward. When applicants wait days or weeks for a response to their submitted online applications, they move on to other available opportunities. Companies need to be quick to act if they want a better chance at onboarding these candidates. Very quick.
If companies send a text within 10 minutes of receiving an application, two-thirds of applicants reply and engage.
Source: PivotCX, JobSync
Game Changer for Hiring
For companies that are experiencing a lot of applicant ghosting, the researchers proposed two questions. They asked employers first, is your application mobile friendly? And secondly, are you engaging with applicants quickly enough?
Close to 70% of job applicants use their mobile devices to look for jobs and submit applications. So, as part of an effort to meet candidates where they are, it is highly recommended to maintain mobile friendliness throughout the application experience.
Following that, the researchers found that speed in responding is key. They found that immediately connecting with applicants via text increased engagement by as much as 70% for certain industries. Overall, almost two-thirds of all applicants responded to this initial message and entered into a text conversation with a hiring representative. The simple action of sending a text message within 10 minutes of receiving an application put a majority of candidates in touch with a recruiter right away – which is vastly more effective than letting a fresh application fade into a ghost.
After this initial hello text message from companies, the applicants typically responded back quickly. It varied a little by industry. For example, the researchers said that candidates in the healthcare, technology, and trucking sectors had an average response time to a text of around four minutes. Personal care candidates typically responded in about 10 minutes. In any case, these quick responses from applicants are a strong indication of how effective such a little thing like a text message can be for drawing individuals into a hiring phase.
As a point of comparison, many companies send an automated email after a candidate completes an application. These typically have an open rate of about 20%. Researchers found that candidates open text messages at a rate of 90% within just three minutes.
“That is a gamechanger for employers and candidates,” says Mike Seidle, PivotCX co-founder and CTO. “This near real-time engagement gives employers the opportunity to have the first pick of the best candidates. The majority of people accept the first offer, so the sooner an employer can connect with interested candidates the better. For candidates, they get the immediate gratification of a human response instead of sitting in the dark for weeks wondering where their application is in the hiring process.”
Text for the Win
Given the current business climate with such intense competition for employees, anything that can give companies an edge over others in hiring will lead to greater results. It might seem silly that something as small as a text message could be so effective, but it’s all about forming that immediate connection without wasting any time to build that initial rapport. The quicker companies can respond, the quicker they can bring applicants into the onboarding process and fill their open positions. It’s an easy and affordable way to improve hiring.
