What we’ve learned from 42.832 Job Alerts sent via WhatsApp
One of the automations that Textkernel offers in the Candidate Engagement Pro subscription is the Job Alert. This allows you to send a specific vacancy to selected candidates via WhatsApp. Based on the candidate’s response, we can automatically update their status in your ATS. Job Alerts can also be sent by email, but the odds that your email will be read and the candidate will actually respond to it is in practice very small. The open rate of a WhatsApp message is over 90% and the response rate is well over 50%!
We’ve analyzed the Job Alerts (42.832 messages!) that got sent from 13 random Candidate Engagement Pro users. Based on the research results, we give you a number of tips to create the perfect Job Alert.
What exactly is a Job Alert?
A Job Alert is an automation that Textkernel offers through the Candidate Engagement solution; a specific vacancy is sent to a candidate in which the recruiter asks whether they might be interested in a job you are currently offering. At Textkernel, we choose to offer Job Alerts via WhatsApp. Messages via WhatsApp have a higher open rate than email and the response rate is also a lot higher than email.
Factors to take into account
To send out a good Job Alert, you need to take a number of factors into account:
– Personal touch: First of all, as a recruiter, you always have to give a personal touch to the starting message.
– The time: Second is the timing of sending a job alert. Our data has shown that sending a Job Alert in the morning between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. (a response rate of over 60%) and the lunch period between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. (at least 55%) has the highest chance of success. But also consider sending a job alert outside working hours. Candidates are then not at work and have all the time they need to read and respond to your message.
– The day: If we dive a little deeper into the data, we can also see which day is most successful for sending a Job Alert. Mondays (response rate of over 56%) and Wednesdays (55%) are the best days, followed by Fridays (50%).
The perfect Job Alert
As a recruiter, you can write the opening message for your Job Alert in many different ways. The main difference is the tone companies use in that first message. Some companies come across as very personal and want to make it seem like the candidate is talking to a real person, while others immediately say that they are talking to a virtual assistant. The last group of companies, however, opt for the middle ground.
A message with a personal touch is always the best solution. But in our data we also see that almost 65% of companies choose the middle way, i.e. a combination between the personal message and the virtual assistant. A great alternative, as long as you mention the recruiter’s name. For example, take a look at this message: “Hi , This is a message from Sarah, the virtual recruiter of Company X. We might have a nice job available for you as at . Would you like to know more about this?” Or this one: “Hi! We have a new job opening at Company Y that may be of interest to you. It is <job Y> in <location Z>. Are you interested?“
