Use Candidate Texting

Once text communication has been activated by an administrator and the recruiters and hiring managers have their phone numbers authorized for use by the carrier, they will be able to send and receive text messages. They can choose recipients, compose text messages, incorporate merge tags, provide message translations, and send messages from within the Recruiting solution.

When a user with an assigned, active texting number logs into the Recruiting solution, the texting app is available on every page of the recruiter/hiring manager experience in the bottom right corner of the screen.

The front page of the Recruiting solution. The new texting icon is highlighted at the bottom right.

Start a New Text Message

You can start a new text message to an individual or group from the following pages:

People (UKG Pro Recruiting > People)
Pool (UKG Pro Recruiting > select Pool)
Applicant List (UKG Pro Recruiting > Opportunities > select opportunity > Applicant List)
Candidate Details (UKG Pro Recruiting > People > select a candidate > (optional) select an Application

To start a new individual text message from the People, Pool, or Applicant List pages, select the Send Text Message action in the Actions menu next to their name.

The People page. The action button associated with a person is pressed and Send Text Message is highlighted on the pop-up menu.

To start a new individual text message from the Candidate Details page, select the Send Text Message action in the action menu next to their name:

The Candidate Details page with the action menu expanded and Send Text Message option highlighed.

or from the Applications tab for the desired application.

The Applications page of a candidate's details. The Send Text Message button is highlighted.

You can also select multiple people to receive the same message. This type of message is not a group text; each individual will not see any of the other candidates who also receive the message. Select a group of candidates on the People, Pool, or Applicant List page using the checkboxes. Select the More Actions drop-down menu and select Send Text Message.

The People page with multiple people selected, the More Actions drop-down expanded and the Send Text Message option highlighted.

Note:

You can only send text messages to candidates that meet all of the following criteria:

1. They are an external candidate.

2. They have opted in to receive text messages.

3. They have a U.S. or Canada phone number in the Primary Phone Number field.

If any of these conditions are not met, the Send Text Message action will be unavailable for an individual candidate on any page that has the texting action.

A Candidate's Details page. There is a warning at the top that the candidate has to opt-in in order to receive text messages. The Send Text Message option under the action button is unavailable.

When you select the Send Text Message action, the New Message page of the texting app opens. Recipients available for texting are listed in the page header.

The New Message window for Text Communications. Recipients are listed at the top. An info panel states that "4 candidate(s) will not receive the message. The Review link is highlighted.

If your text message for multiple candidates includes someone who cannot receive texts, select the Review link to review them.

The Review window of the Texting Panel. The names of those who were selected to receive the message but are unable to receive it are listed, as well as the reason they cannot be texted.

Compose a Text Message

Once you have selected the candidate(s) you wish to text, you can compose your text message in the Write Message field of the New Message window. The New Message window appears any time you select candidate(s) and select Send Text Message anywhere in the Recruiting solution.

Enter your message at the Write Message field. The maximum message length is 1600 characters. Longer texts may be broken down into multiple messages by the SMS provider. Attachments, images, and rich text formatting are not currently supported.
Candidates will not see your name when you message them, only your 8XX phone number.
We recommend introducing yourself by name in your opening message.
(Optional) Use the Merge Tags icon to easily customize your message.
- A message started from one of the Candidate pages can add merge tags associated with the Candidate(s).
- A message started from an Application page can add merge tags associated with the Candidate and the Application.
(Optional) Add translations to the message.
1. If you are texting an individual candidate, their preferred language will be shown next to their name, if it is different that the default language set for your company. Enter your translation directly in the Write Message box.
2. If you are texting to a group of recipients, select the Globe icon after typing your message (the Globe icon is unavailable until at least one character is entered). The translation page will open.
3. You will see the preferred languages of your recipients that are different from the company default language. Select the tab from the top bar that matches the language you will be translating to. Select Save translation when complete.

Send a Text Message

Once you have selected your recipients, written your message, included any merge tags and any necessary translations, you are ready to send the message. Select the Send button.

A message that has been composed for a group will be sent as an individual message to every eligible recipient in their preferred language, if the translation exists. If translation is not available, the default language from the main New Message screen will be used.

After sending a message, the Messages window will pop up and you can review the messages that have just been sent.

The Messages window showing a list of text messages.

Note:

Message statuses such as Pending, Sent or Failed are not currently available.

View Candidate Responses

When a candidate sends you a response you will see a new message indicator in the collapsed texting app icon.

The texting app bubble with a 1 inside a circle, indicating one new message.

Select the Texting app icon.
The Messages page opens. This page contains the history of your candidate conversations. You cannot see conversations between candidates and other recruiters of hiring managers.
Select a conversation to review or continue it. Conversations with new messages have a circle icon with a number indicating how many unread messages are in the conversation.
If necessary, you can search by candidate name.
Use the filter icon to search by Unread or All

Reply to a Candidate

Select the texting app icon from any page.
The Messages page will open.
Locate the conversation in the list of messages and select it.
The Conversation details page opens.
Write your response at the Write Message field. Merge tags are not available on the Conversation details page.
Select Send to send your message when finished.

View Text Messages in Candidate Notes

All text messages successfully sent by Recruiters or Hiring Managers to a candidate, as well as a candidate's responses, can be viewed on the Notes tab of the Candidate Details page. Use the Text Message Notes filter from the View dropdown to filter the notes.

The Candidate Details page, with the Notes tab selected. The View dropdown is expanded and the Text Message Notes option is highlighted.

Note:

Only successfully delivered messages are displayed. Messages that are Pending or Failed are not displayed.

Candidate Opt-In and Unsubscribe from Candidate Texting

Text messaging is governed by anti-spam laws in multiple countries. In particular, Canada's Anti-Spam Law (CASL) requires organizations to obtain a candidate's consent before sending a text message (opt-in consent). To comply with CASL's requirement and to limit the collection of location data from candidates, the Recruiting solution's text communication function requires candidates' consent before sending a message.

Candidates have multiple ways to opt-in to receive text messages, or to unsubscribe:

At registration, candidates can opt-in by providing a 10-digit phone number and checking the box.
Candidates can opt-in, unsubscribe or resubscribe by logging in to your company's recruiting site and navigating to their communications options (Candidate Name > Communications > Text Messages), moving the Recruiting SMS toggle to the desired position, and selecting Save..
Candidates can reply STOP or UNSTOP to stop or restart text messages.
If a candidate has never opted in, a recruiter can send them an email invite from the Applicant List page by selecting the Action icon and choosing Invite Candidate to Text.