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Opt-ins & opt-outs: an overview
Opt-ins & opt-outs: an overview

What you need to know about opt-ins & opt-outs and why they're important.

Brian Thompson avatar
Written by Brian Thompson
Updated over a week ago

How does Rectxt help me stay compliant when texting with my candidates?

We designed Rectxt so that you can safely and compliantly utilize text recruiting by incorporating some key features to our platform:

  1. An opt-out message is automatically included in the first message that you send to a candidate that gives clear instructions on how that candidate can opt-out for future messages.

  2. Our technology automatically recognizes when candidates want to opt-out through specific key words such as STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL and will immediately opt-out their profile so that no further text messages are able to be sent to them. Once a candidate opts-out from text messages their profile will not be textable and will look like this:

The candidate will receive an automated response to confirm they have been unsubscribed:

"You have successfully been unsubscribed. You will not receive any more messages from this number. Reply START to resubscribe."

If the candidate wants to opt back in then they can reply 'START' and Rectxt will automatically unlock their profile and send the candidate a confirmation message:

"You have successfully been re-subscribed to messages from this number. Reply HELP for help. Reply STOP to unsubscribe. Msg&Data Rates May Apply."

3. We have made it simple and easy for a recruiter to manually opt-out or opt-in any candidate through the Candidate tab in the chrome extension.

4. As per our Terms of Service which includes our Acceptable Usage Policy, a recruiter must have consent from a candidate before sending a text to them.

To learn more about Rectxt's opt-out features then check out this article.

TCPA and CAN-SPAM

It's important for recruiters to know what their legal obligations are when it comes to text recruiting. While there are no specific laws around text recruiting, the 2 most relevant governing Acts are the Telephone Protection Consumer Act (TCPA) and the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM) which both include legislation on using text/SMS messages for marketing purposes. 

But is text recruiting the same as text marketing?

In short, the answer is no. Without getting into too much detail (if you like detail you can google 'Kerry Reardon vs. Uber Technologies.') a recent ruling has set the precedent that recruiters can continue using text messages to reach out to new candidates about career opportunities but must comply with the following conditions:

  • The candidate has given permission (opted-in) to receiving text messages from the sender. Opt-ins are assumed if a candidate completes an application to a job opportunity.

  • The candidate must have a clear method of opting-out from future messages.

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