Recruiting text message templates for every stage, with the consent and opt-out rules as of October 2026

A recruiting text should name you and your company in the first words, carry one purpose, fit in one 160-character message where possible, and go only to candidates who agreed to receive texts, with a way to reply STOP. The templates below cover the stages the interview reminder texts do not: first contact, application received, screening, scheduling, after-interview updates, rejection and re-engagement. As of October 2026, FCC rules require opt-outs to be honored within 10 business days, and an FCC order taking effect on November 25, 2026 changes how senders may designate the opt-out method.

What makes a recruiting text work?

• Name first. "Hi Jordan, it's Priya from Northwind" before anything else. An unknown number with a link reads as a scam.
• One purpose per text. A question, a time, an update. Detail goes in email.
• One message long. Twilio's documentation on the SMS character limit explains that a single SMS carries 160 characters, longer texts are split into 153-character segments, and one emoji or other character outside the standard GSM-7 set switches the whole message to an encoding with 70 characters per message. Type plain characters; curly quotes pasted from a word processor may have the same effect.
• Links on your own domain. The wireless industry's guidelines ask senders not to use shared, anonymous link shorteners and to make the website owner identifiable.
• A person reads replies. If a candidate answers with a question and nobody responds that day, the text did harm.
• Nothing sensitive. Pay negotiations, background check results, feedback and anything personal belong on a call or in email; texts show on lock screens.
• Sensible hours. 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the candidate's time zone (see the rules below).

Most templates below come to roughly 125 to 160 characters with a short first name and a two-word job title filled in; a long title pushes a few into a second segment.

Which template fits which stage?

First contact templates

1. Candidate who applied and agreed to texts

Hi [First name], it's [Your name] from [Company] about your [Role]
application. Free for a 15-min call today or tomorrow? Reply STOP to
opt out.

2. Opt-in confirmation, sent once when texting starts

[Company] Recruiting: texts about your [Role] application, up to
[3]/week. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to opt
out.

The industry guidelines ask senders of recurring messages to confirm the opt-in once, naming the program, giving a help contact, saying how to opt out, stating how often messages come and mentioning any charges. This text does all five.

3. Asking a sourced candidate for permission (send by email or LinkedIn, not text)

Would texting be easier? If so, reply with the best mobile number and
I'll send a couple of times there. You can stop texts at any time by
replying STOP.

A sourced candidate who has never applied has not agreed to texts. Ask first through the channel you already used, and record the reply as their consent.

4. First text after they say yes

Hi [First name], [Your name] from [Company] as promised. 20-min call
about [Role]? [Tue 10am], [Tue 2pm] or [Wed 9am ET]. Reply 1, 2 or 3.
STOP to opt out.

Screening and scheduling templates

5. One knock-out question

Hi [First name], [Your name] at [Company]. Quick check: the [Role] job
is [2nd shift, 3-11:30pm, Mon-Fri]. Does that work? Reply YES or NO.
STOP to opt out.

Ask about a real job requirement only, one question per text. Never use STOP, END, CANCEL or QUIT as answer options; a candidate who replies CANCEL to mean "cancel my interview" has also used an opt-out word.

6. Self-scheduling link

Hi [First name], [Your name] from [Company]. Pick a time for your
[Role] interview: [link on your own domain]. Reply here with
questions. STOP to opt out.

7. Booking confirmation

Booked: [Role] interview, [Thu Nov 5], [10:00am ET], [video link in
your email / address]. Need a new time? Reply NEW. STOP to opt out.

The day-before and morning-of reminders are in the reminder templates.

After-interview templates

8. Thank you and the timeline

Thanks for your time today, [First name]. [Hiring manager] will decide
next steps by [Fri]. I'll text or call either way. [Your name],
[Company]. STOP to opt out.

9. The decision is late

Hi [First name], [Your name] from [Company]. No decision yet on
[Role]; the team needs until [Nov 12]. I'll update you by then. STOP to
opt out.

Send it before the date you promised passes, not after. Silence after a promised date is easy to avoid and hard to repair.

10. Invitation to the next round

Good news, [First name]: [Company] would like you back for a final
interview for [Role]. Times are in your email, or reply here. STOP to
opt out.

Rejection templates, and when not to use them

Text rejections suit early-stage applicants in high-volume hiring who chose text as their channel. After an interview with the hiring team, call or email instead; see the rejection email templates.

11. Application not taken forward

Hi [First name], [Your name] from [Company]. Thanks for applying for
[Role]. The spots are filled, so we won't move forward this time. Good
luck! STOP to opt out

12. After a recruiter screen

[First name], thanks for our call about [Role]. We're going with
candidates whose [shift availability] fits more closely. [Your name],
[Company]. STOP to opt out

Give a reason only if it is the real, job-related one. If you are not sure, leave the reason out.

Re-engagement templates

13. Past applicant, new opening

Hi [First name], [Your name] from [Company]. You applied for [Role] in
[May]. A new one is open at [Elm St], [$19.50/hr]. Want details? Reply
YES. STOP to opt out.

14. Finalist from an earlier search

Hi [First name], [Your name] at [Company]. You were a finalist for
[Role] in [May]. A similar role just opened. Open to a quick call this
week? STOP to opt out.

See what a silver medalist candidate is for when this is worth doing.

15. Agency: new assignment for a worker on your books

Hi [First name], [Your name] at [Agency]. New assignment: [Picker],
[Elm St], [1st shift], [$19/hr], starts [Mon 11/9]. Interested? Reply
YES. STOP to opt out.

Use 13 to 15 only where the candidate's consent covers texts about other jobs. The industry guidelines treat an opt-in as applying only to the program it was given for, so consent to texts "about your application" may not stretch to new openings. Ask for both on the form (wording below), or ask again by email.

Replies you will need

16. HELP

[Company] Recruiting: texts about your job application. Help: [name],
[phone], [email]. Reply STOP to opt out.

17. Confirming an opt-out

You won't get more texts from [Company] Recruiting. We'll contact you by
email at [email] about your application.

Send it straight away, with nothing promotional in it, and then no more texts. Opting out of texts is not withdrawing from the process; keep the candidate moving by email or phone.

18. Wrong number

Sorry, wrong number. We've removed this number and won't text it
again. [Company] Recruiting

What are the consent and opt-out rules as of October 2026?

The FCC's rules

• Consent. Under 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(1)(iii), calls to a mobile number made with an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice need the called party's prior express consent, unless made for emergency purposes, and the rule's opt-out provisions apply expressly to "calls or text messages". Whether your texting tool is such a system is a legal question; the reminder templates page covers the Supreme Court's 2021 decision on it. The practical answer is to get consent for every candidate you text.
• Marketing texts need more. Texts that include an advertisement or constitute telemarketing, which the rule defines as encouraging "the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services", need prior express written consent under 64.1200(a)(2). Texts about a candidate's own application are not selling anything; texts that promote a paid product or service to candidates are.
• Opt-outs, as of October 2026. Paragraph (a)(10) lets a person revoke consent by any reasonable method. A reply of "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel" or "unsubscribe" counts automatically, a reply in other words counts if a reasonable person would read it as a request to stop, and senders may not designate an exclusive opt-out method. Requests must be honored within a reasonable time, no more than 10 business days. A confirmation text sent within five minutes is presumed allowed if it only confirms the opt-out.
• From November 25, 2026. The FCC's order FCC 26-67, adopted September 30, 2026 and published in the Federal Register on October 26, 2026 (91 FR 67214), revises the rule. A sender may designate as its exclusive opt-out method a reply with the standard words, a website or phone number, or an automated option on a call, but must disclose that method clearly in each text; including at least one of the standard words, such as "Reply STOP to opt out", satisfies this if the sender honors all seven words. A sender may treat an opt-out from an informational text as covering only that category of messages, while an opt-out from a marketing text covers all marketing from that sender. The 10-business-day limit stays. The FCC has also asked for comment on a shorter limit, two-way texting requirements and a required "revoke all" option, so check for changes before you rebuild your process.
• Hours. Paragraph (c)(1) bars telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the called person's local time. Recruiting texts are not solicitations, but the same window is a sound rule for any candidate text.

For candidates, keep it simple: treat any opt-out as stopping all recruiting texts from you, honor plain-language requests ("please stop texting me") as well as the seven words, and put "STOP to opt out" in every text so you are covered under both versions of the rule.

The wireless industry's guidelines

CTIA, the wireless industry association, publishes the Messaging Principles and Best Practices (May 2023 edition, the latest we found as of October 2026), developed by its member companies. They are voluntary guidelines, not law, but they say providers may vet campaigns, filter messages and block unwanted traffic. Points that matter for recruiters:

• A recruiter is a business sender. The guidelines classify messages from a business, including its agents and representatives, as non-consumer messaging, so texts from a recruiter's own phone on the company's behalf are held to business standards.
• Consent by message type. Conversational replies to a candidate who texted first need no further permission; informational messages need express consent; promotional messages need express written consent.
• One opt-in per program. An opt-in is not transferable and covers only the program it was given for.
• Records. Keep the timestamp, how consent was collected, the wording shown, the program, the phone number and who consented.
• Opt-out handling. Support opt-out by text, phone or email, send one final confirmation, and send nothing after it.

Consent wording for the application form

[ ] I agree to receive text messages from [Company] about my application,
interviews and [future job openings]. Message frequency varies. Msg &
data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Agreeing is
not required to apply. [Link to privacy notice]

Leave the box unticked by default, keep the job-openings part as a separate box if you want candidates to choose, and store the consent record with the candidate's profile so every recruiter and every tool sees the same status.