While mobile messaging has achieved mass adoption in just about everyone’s private life, it’s only now starting to gain traction as a consumer tool, and more specifically a recruiting application. TextRecruit, probably the most well-known industry player (recently acquired by iCIMS), is less than 10 years old, and up-and-comers like Canvas and Emissary are still in diapers.
With such high deliverability numbers, open rates, and response times text messaging enjoys, especially when compared to email and even LinkedIn’s inMail, it’s just a matter of time before texting becomes a communication tool of choice in recruitment, followed by mobile tools that support internal recruiting teams.
Enter Jobalign‘s latest release, Mobile Recruiter. Launched last week, the Seattle-based company describes its latest feature as a tool that offers recruiters and hiring managers immediate review and communication with candidates from any device, adding that it alleviates the pain of talent acquisition teams who often work away from their desks.
“Jobalign has been an expert on the hourly candidate experience for years, sourcing and allowing hourly job seekers to apply from anywhere, at any time, on any device,” said Doug Johnson, CEO at Jobalign. “Mobile Recruiter demonstrates the ongoing focus to making the lives of talent acquisition teams easier as well.”
Mobile Recruiter notifies recruiters via text message when new candidates are delivered or have responded to a message. Recruiters and managers can review and communicate with applicants using Candidate Messenger, another mobile tool the company introduced in January, and have control over how they get notified. By shortening the time to contact, the company says, recruiters and hiring managers see significantly higher response rates from their candidates.
“If you want to reach hourly job seekers, you have to make it easy to communicate with them quickly,” explains user Jessica Strahowski, director of talent acquisition at Island Hospitality Management. “Mobile Recruiter provides an opportunity for communication in a real-time setting with candidates, which makes it possible for our hotel teams to connect with them immediately to conduct phone screens or set up interviews.”
Mobile Recruiter runs through mobile browsers as opposed to being a native iOS or Android application. The company says users of the product schedule three times more interviews. Megan Pulliam, a business development manager, added the product is homemade and doesn’t use any third-party solutions to power the technology.
“This tool is perfect for recruiters and hiring managers who are away from their computers for hours at a time, while needing to stay on top of recruiting,” said Johnson. “You must enable your team to be notified of an application, review applicants, and communicate with those applicants on mobile devices in a timely manner. Mobile Recruiter offers the quickest notification, review, and communication tool on the market today.”
Mobile Recruiter is baked into the company’s current product suite and no extra costs are insured for using it.