SMS Opt-in is the process of obtaining and documenting a candidate’s expressed consent to receive SMS from your business. The biggest benefit of implementing an SMS Opt-in process is reducing the risk of carrier filtering, which results from spam complaints and high opt-out rates.

The specific law that speaks to this is called the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA). Here’s what TCPA says:

“The TCPA restricts telephone solicitations (i.e., telemarketing) and the use of automated telephone equipment. The TCPA limits the use of automatic dialing systems, artificial or prerecorded voice messages, SMS text messages, and fax machines. It also specifies several technical requirements for fax machines, autodialers, and voice messaging systems—principally with provisions requiring identification and contact information of the entity using the device to be contained in the message.”

SMS is included in the above language, which can give some recruiters pause. But you need to actually break down what TCPA restricts by definition. 

“TCPA restricts telephone solicitation (i.e. 'telemarketing')…” 

So, the big question is this – Is texting with a candidate about a job opening you think they'd be interested in considered ‘telemarketing’?

And the answer is no, it's actually not. 

If it was, then every time a recruiter called a candidate about a job opportunity, it would be considered a solicitation under the TCPA, and as such, it'd be illegal to call candidates about jobs without their explicit consent. 

That’s not the case because you’re not ‘selling’ or 'promoting' a good or service to a candidate. There's no transaction taking place. A candidate isn't paying money to show interest or lack of interest in your job opening.

So, by law, you do not need permission to text a candidate about a relevant job. 

(Not convinced? Check out Grayscale's guide to TCPA compliance, which highlights additional details and court cases that may be helpful.)

But, just because the law says it's acceptable to text candidates about relevant jobs, that doesn’t mean you have license to spam candidates via text message! As with any candidate interaction, you have one shot at making a great first impression. Sending a text message is no different.

In 2019, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), the trade association representing wireless carriers in the U.S., released the latest version of its messaging principles and best practices. This document outlines messaging practices that facilitate a healthy messaging ecosystem of wanted messages between businesses (and nonprofits) and consumers. Among key tenants of these principles and best practices are obtaining explicit opt-in and honoring opt-out from the people you are messaging. This opt-in must relate not only to your organization as the sender, but the specific campaign use case for which you are messaging.

U.S. carriers determine what messages are delivered to their customers, the end consumer. Failure to abide by the CTIA messaging principles and best practices can result in message filtering and phone number blocking by carriers.

Please note that the consent requirements defined by the CTIA are in addition to the minimum requirements defined by the TCPA. In other words, consent requirements for sending SMS messages through carrier networks exceed what may be legally allowable under TCPA.

All organizations should ensure that your audience has provided consent to receive text messages for each of the campaign use cases for which you are sending messages.

Looking for more information on SMS compliance and opt-in? Check out What You Need to Know About SMS Opt-In Compliance.

Disclaimer: Please note this advice is for informational purposes only and is neither intended as nor should be substituted for consultation with appropriate legal counsel and/or your organization’s regulatory compliance team.