You're the recruiters...recruit!!

We've discussed text messages before. They get heavy use in the industry for many reasons:

• Called to follow up on your application, but you didn't answer? Send a text.

• Want to discuss scheduling your first day of work? Send a text.

• Need to remind you to submit your timecard for last week so we can process payroll? Send a text.

You get the idea.

My coworker called a guy one Friday to follow up on his application for a shipping position. The guy didn’t pick up, so my coworker leaves him a voicemail and sends a text saying: "We are following up on the recent application you submitted for a shipping position. As we were unable to reach you by phone, please give our office a call to discuss your application in more detail when you have some free time. <insert contact info> Thank you."

I get in to work on Monday morning and start going through the weekend texts that came in and see this dude's response:

"Huh? Ain't gonna do your job for you! You want to talk, you'll have contact me! You're the recruiters...recruit!!"

It's 8:03am. Monday. I pull his file and consider whether I'm in the mood to engage.

I’m still thinking a good two and a half minutes later when my coworker sends me an instant message: Did you see that douchebag in the text box?

Why, yes. Yes, I did. I decide that I'm not in the mood to engage (Shocking, I know), mark the guy's text as 'read', and put in a DNU (Do Not Use) comment in his file:

Unwilling to call us back after we called to follow up on candidate's application. Is of the mindset that we ought to cater to him and continue to reach out until he decides to pick up the phone.

The response that I did not send to the guy would go something like this:

"We appreciate your lack of interest in doing our job for us. We did, after initially reviewing your application, wish to speak further with you and attempted to do so by calling on Friday. Seeing as you were unwilling to call us back and chose to respond in the manner you did, we are no longer interested in speaking with you. We look forward to rejecting any other applications you wish to submit to our company as we feel you would not be a match for anything we have to offer, either now or in the future. We wish you the best of luck in your endeavors to find employment with that attitude as we do not feel you will get very far."