Mobile First Communication

The latest industry trend as reported by ‘Grapevine Recruitment’ recently is SMS interviews …. yes you raed it correctly!!

There are many benefits firstly, recruiters will save time with the ability to send questions to multiple candidates instantaneously. Not only will recruiters be able to send out the necessary questions at the same time, but they will also be able to sift through and reject unsuitable applicants quickly. This would save time rather than waste time with a lengthy telephone conversation to discover that an applicant doesn’t have the right traits, availability or passion for the role, recruiters can simply judge an applicant’s response to key criteria.

The really surprising thing was the number of applicants that indicated they would prefer an SMS interview. ‘Grapevine Recruitment’ can be quoted in saying that 73% of Americans and British prefer texting to phone calls. Studies show that 92% of people who own a mobile phone send texts every day this certainly supports a shift to mobile first communication. The ability to reply in real time, rather than negotiate convenient times for both recruiter and candidate, benefits both parties and makes what can be a daunting and stressful experience that little bit easier for the candidate.

Recruiters commented that text interviews would not allow them to gather all of information they can get from a phone interview such as the tone of voice used, level of enthusiasm and passion for the role. But is this a reason to immediately dismiss SMS interviews? Nobody is saying that the whole interview process should be conducted from a phone screen; SMS interviews are simply the first step. After filtering through applicants from their text replies, phone and in-person interviews can then be conducted to dig deeper to find the perfect person for the role.

Food for thought!

Of course as much as face to face and conversation skills are of course important assets that a recruiter must ascertain about an applicant, in today’s tech-savvy and mobile-first world, surely good online communication skills are also important?