Dive Brief:
- Jobalign has announced the launch of a texting platform, promising to improve communication between recruiters and job-seekers. Candidate Messenger is a texting interface that lets recruiters communicate directly with applicants via the Jobalign platform.
- Jobalign, a candidate engagement platform that focuses on recruiting hourly workers, says it's hoping to address frustration expressed by applicants who don’t get responses from employers in a timely manner. Texting is hourly candidates' preferred method of communication, the company says.
- The platform will allow real-time, immediate conversations so employers can answer questions, arrange interviews and fill jobs more quickly and efficiently. Jobalign says the tool should improve candidate engagement and reduce application abandonment.
Dive Insight:
Jobalign's announcement comes on the heels of news that iCIMS has acquired TextRecruit. These shifts reflect business' broader effort to become "mobile-first" entities but also point to HR's realization that speed matters in this tight labor market.
The skills gap and low unemployment rates continue to pressure recruiters to snatch up workers before the competition does. And with the wide adoption of smartphones, communicating quickly and effectively by text seems a natural progression for recruiters.
Still, it's not the only option; recruiters may benefit from employing a range of communication methods and tailoring interactions to job candidates' preferences and the workplace's culture. If "personalization" is the name of the game in training and benefits, perhaps it has a place in recruiting, too.
