Text messaging is the most effective channel most recruiting teams have. It is also the channel most likely to get a company a demand letter if it is handled carelessly. The rules are not complicated, but they are strict, and "we did not know" is not a defense. This post covers the four things every recruiting team needs to have in order: consent, opt-outs, quiet hours and records. It is written by product people, not lawyers, so treat it as a checklist to review with your own counsel rather than legal advice.
Consent: get it, and get it in writing
The core principle is simple. Before you text a candidate, they need to have agreed to receive texts from you. An application that includes a phone number is not, by itself, that agreement. What works in practice:
- A clear checkbox or statement on the application form: "I agree to receive text messages from [Company] about my application. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out." Unchecked by default.
- If a candidate texts you first, that generally establishes consent for that conversation, but record it anyway.
- For candidates already in your database from before you started texting, send one email asking them to opt in. Do not text them to ask if you can text them.
- Keep the consent scoped. Consent to hear about a job application is not consent to receive marketing about your staffing services next year.
Store the consent on the applicant record with a timestamp and the exact wording they agreed to. Apex ATS captures this automatically when the opt-in comes through an application form, and blocks sending to any record where consent is missing or revoked. That block is not there to be annoying. It is there so nobody on a busy Tuesday sends a bulk reminder to 300 people, 40 of whom never opted in.
Opt-outs: honor them instantly, every time
A candidate who replies STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, QUIT or END has revoked consent, and the next message you send them is a problem. Carriers handle the standard keywords automatically, but your own process needs to match:
- 01The opt-out is recorded on the applicant record within seconds, not when someone notices.
- 02One confirmation message is allowed and expected: "You have been unsubscribed and will not receive further texts. Reply START to opt back in." Then nothing.
- 03Every template and every bulk send checks opt-out status before sending. No exceptions for "urgent" messages.
- 04Non-standard phrasing counts too. "Please stop texting me" is an opt-out. Recruiters should mark it manually if the system did not catch it.
- 05An opt-out from texting is not an opt-out from the job. Email and phone remain available unless the candidate says otherwise.
Quiet hours: respect the clock in their time zone
Federal rules restrict telemarketing calls to 8am to 9pm local time for the recipient, and several states apply tighter windows or extend the restriction to texts. Regardless of the letter of the law, texting a candidate at 6:30am is a bad way to start a relationship. Set a sending window and let the system enforce it:
- Default window of 9am to 8pm in the candidate's local time zone, inferred from their area code or ZIP code, not yours.
- Messages composed outside the window are queued and sent at the next allowed time. The recruiter sees a note saying when it will go.
- Replies to a candidate who just texted you are the exception most policies allow, but even then, use judgment at 11pm.
- Bulk sends should be scheduled for mid-morning. A reminder that lands at 10:15am gets read. One that lands at 8:01am gets ignored with the rest of the overnight pile.
Records: be able to prove it
If a complaint ever arrives, the question will be "show me." Show me the consent, the wording, the timestamp, every message sent, every opt-out and when it was honored. If your texting lives on personal phones, you cannot show any of it. If it lives on the applicant record in your ATS, you can pull the whole history in a minute. Keep records for at least as long as your applicant data retention policy, and make sure deleting a candidate does not delete the consent log before you are allowed to lose it.
A one-page policy your team will actually follow
Write it short. Consent before the first text, opt-outs honored immediately, no messages outside 9 to 8 local, all texting through the ATS, no personal phones. Add the three or four sentences of standard language recruiters should use for opt-in and opt-out. Review it once a year and whenever you start messaging in a new state. That is the whole thing, and a team that follows it can text with confidence, which is the point. Compliance is not the opposite of speed. It is what lets you be fast without worrying.