Texting candidates is fast and it is not appropriate for everything, and the useful version of this topic is knowing which is which. Where it helps is time-critical coordination: confirming an interview, reminding someone of it, and nudging a stalled stage. Those are exactly the points where a small desk loses days, and on the worked example 26 of the 31 days to hire pass before an offer exists, much of it waiting for someone to respond. A text is read in minutes where an email is read in hours or not at all, so the gain is real and it lands on the stage that matters. Where it is inappropriate is anything substantive: rejections, offers, or anything a candidate might reasonably want in writing to consider properly. This page sets out the split, plus the consent and record-keeping points to settle before starting.
Where texting genuinely helps
Interview confirmations, reminders and short scheduling nudges. These are time-sensitive, brief, and better for being immediate, and they attack the waiting that makes a small desk feel slow to candidates who have other options in play.
Where it should not be used
Rejections, offers and substantive feedback. Beyond being poor practice, these are things a candidate reasonably wants in a form they can reread and act on, and a text is the wrong medium for a decision that affects someone's livelihood.
Consent and records, before you start
Get agreement to be contacted this way at application, keep the messages against the candidate record like any other correspondence, and check the rules that apply to business texting in your jurisdiction with your adviser before you begin sending.
Questions people ask about text to recruit
Do candidates mind being texted?
Most do not mind logistics by text and many prefer it. The complaints are almost always about content rather than channel: a decision delivered by text reads as careless.
Does it actually speed up hiring?
It reduces waiting at the coordination points, which on the worked example is where most of the elapsed time sits. Measure it with the time to hire sheet before and after rather than trusting the impression.
Should texts be kept with the record?
Yes. They are recruitment correspondence and belong against the applicant with everything else, both for consistency and because a conversation nobody can find later is a conversation that did not happen.