text-recruitFor the past few weeks now, I have been testing out a new mobile recruiting tool called TextRecruit. I don’t say this about many tools and sourcing technologies, but I’ve fallen in love.

While I’ve been using texting as a method for contacting candidates for some time now, I can do it better, faster and track what I’m doing easier with TextRecruit.

TextRecruit was founded by Erik Kostelnik, a recruiting industry veteran who previously held executive roles with companies such as CareerBuilder and Identified, and John Danner, a technology industry and startup leader.  This Silicon Valley startup, which recently received its first round of seed funding in January, was designed as the first centralized texting platform built exclusively for the recruiting industry.

The business case – and market need – seems pretty obvious.  With over 90% of text messages read within 3 minutes of being sent, and 86% of job seekers reporting using mobile technologies in their job search, you can see how this capability can be very useful for staffing.

It’s estimated that over 60% of recruiters are already texting candidates as part of their process, but in the absence of a dedicated tool, most are forced to use their personal accounts, a highly manual process that only allows texting one candidate at a time, with no real analytics or reporting capabilities.  TextRecruit, however, separates the personal and professional by providing an easy-to-use texting platform that allows employers to track SMS campaigns and their performance.

TextRecruit features a very user-friendly interface which gives recruiters visibility into which candidates they’ve texted, which have replied, and the relative performance of text messages. I’ve been a long time proponent for utilizing texting/SMS technologies as a core component of candidate engagement strategy.  Here, finally, is a tool that allows texting directly from your desktop or laptop, allows recruiters to automate and send bulk SMS, create campaigns, organize and segment text outreach and, most importantly, gain visibility and report on results like click through and conversion rates.

TextRecruit allows recruiters to stay compliant when executing SMS campaigns, avoiding messages being flagged for spam while maintaining the capabilities required to ensure recruitment-related texts remain legal.  TextRecruit offers several cost effective pricing plans designed to match the needs of almost every recruiting organization, from small staffing firms to enterprise employers.  Each plan comes with a specific number of credits, equivalent to the number of text messages a recruiter can send through TextRecruit within a defined time frame.   Only the initial contact message, however, counts against these credits; any follow up messages between recruiters and candidates do not count, meaning any successful candidate engagement on TextRecruit is essentially free.

While still early in its development, TextRecruit is an incredibly effective tool that’s only getting better.  The company is currently developing a mobile recruiting app which will be supported by all major mobile operating systems, as well as custom integrations with most applicant tracking, human capital management and CRM systems.

TextRecruit is a great tool for any recruiter to add to their arsenal; make sure to take this tool for a test drive, as they offer a 15 day free trial, which should be more than enough time for you to fall in love with this platform, like I did.  For more on TextRecruit, click here.

dean_dacostaAbout the Author: Dean Da Costa is a highly experienced and decorated recruiter, sourcer and manager with deep skills and experience in HR, project management, training & process improvement.

Dean is best known for his work in the highly specialized secured clearance and mobile arenas, where he has been a top performing recruiter and sourcer.  Dean’s keen insight and creation of innovative tools and processes for enhancing and changing staffing has established Dean as one of the top authorities in sourcing and recruiting.

Connect with Dean at LinkedIn or follow @DeanDaCosta on Twitter.


Authors

Dean Da Costa is a highly experienced and decorated staffing professional, recruiter, sourcer and manager, who also boasts outstanding experience and skills in Human Resources, Project Management, Training, and Process Improvement. He is best known for his work in the highly difficult security and mobile arena's, and the gold star winning numbers he produced. His keen insight and creation of ground breaking tools and processes, to enhance and change staffing as we know it, have proven he is a true "Staffing Thought Leader". Despite all this he remains first and foremost one of the top sourcers, staffing managers and full cycle recruiters in the industry and a true "Search Authority"