There are a million ways to get in touch with all kinds of people these days — friends, colleagues, family members, future clients and potential candidates for a job opening.  There is also a clear divide between old-school and new-school recruiters when it comes to reaching out and touching someone.  Non-Profit recruiters must stay abreast candidates’ preferred method(s) of communicating, or the recruiter will get left behind!

You are hopelessly Old-School if you:

• Use a fax machine
• Only post job openings in the newspaper
• Call a candidate on a landline
• Only send an email (Shocked?)
• Only leave a voicemail (Even more shocked?!)

You are keeping up with the Jones’ if you:

• Send a Tweet/DM (Direct Message) on Twitter
• Update your facebook status
• Post a Blog
• Record a Youtube video or Podcast
• and most importantly…Send a Text Message

Email is the new phone call. Text messaging is the new email!

Nielsen Mobile reports that…

• Text messaging (sending & receiving) is up 450% in the past two years. In the USA, 262 million subscribers send over 75 billion text messages a month.
• 53% of the US cell phone subscriber base (or 138 million people) uses text messaging.
• Today’s teens text more than they talk. These teens are tomorrow’s interns, salespeople, managers and CEOs.
• Open-message rates are three times that of email (more than 90% of text messages are read by the recipient).

You may be wondering how on earth one uses text messaging to recruit. Well, I’m glad you asked! Here’s a common example where texting is appropriate:

You call a candidate, and s/he doesn’t answer the phone. Your response:

Text: “Position Title open with Company.  Web L ink for more info. Contact Me Name, Phone Number, Email.”

Studies show that many candidates are more likely to quickly respond to this simple text message than to any other form of communication. This is partly due to the fact that most people text while in situations where they are otherwise unable to answer the phone or check email. The candidate receiving this text message has several options:  text back interest (or lack of) in the position; immediately visit the company’s website from their mobile browser to gain more information regarding the position, or contact the recruiter directly to further discuss the opportunity … all while standing in line at the grocery store! It also becomes easy for candidates to forward the text message to others in their networks who may be interested in the position.

The list of what makes a good recruiter in the Non-Profit sector is extremely lengthy, but the items topping that list are both the initial contact and also the “follow up”. These just might be the 2 most crucial points of contact during the entire process. The way new candidates are recruited is tied to changes in the way people communicate. Recruiters must learn to adapt and effectively use new media in order to stay afloat in this world of new technology.

Last updated on October 8th, 2009 at 07:19 am