Celebrating Emojis: How Emojis Have Made Recruiting Fun AND More Effective

Who doesn’t love seeing a , , or even a in a text response? Can you beat the instantaneous feeling of relief and satisfaction you get in seeing a positive emoji response, knowing that your message landed?

It’s crazy to think that it wasn’t long ago that, both in our personal and professional lives, we would send an email full of sensitive information, or just plain full of feelings, and then we’d agonize for hours (ok, some of us may have obsessed a couple of days) at the inevitable email response: an overly polite, painfully cordial, confusing message. At least, that’s how we interpreted it. Then, we’d gather our most supportive co-workers around the watercooler and proclaim, “I wish there was a way to really know what Nancy meant by that snarky period!!”

Little did we know that an artist in Japan was working on solving this exact problem. And we definitely couldn’t have foreseen how emojis would shape our digital world and change modern communication.

And when it comes to how emojis are used in recruiting, the initial response to emojis was, “This is fun! But can we use it in recruiting and HR?!” The rise of text-based interviewing and the emergence of social recruiting prove that, yes, you should definitely use emojis in recruiting conversations, and they are more than just a feature that brings some personality to what can be a dry and awkward pre-screening process (though that’s a big benefit!).

We’re seeing more studies showing how emojis empower candidates and recruiters to ask more questions and communicate more clearly, and how texting and emojis are making strategies like conversational recruiting more relevant and effective than ever before. Here are just a few of the ways these little emojis are making a big impact on recruiting that goes beyond the fun:

1. Emojis actually communicate emotions that words can’t

A recent paper revealed why and how people choose their emojis in a given conversation. Do people include emojis as simply an add-on to their words, or do they act as a type of replacement? The results were enlightening. The paper concluded that, ultimately, “The way we use emojis in our digital messages is similar to the way we use gestures when we talk.”

So emojis aren’t simply fun additives to your conversation, they truly convey meaning in the same way a head nod, a wiping of the brow, or an understanding smile does for our face-to-face interactions.

This is why the use of emojis in professional emails and recruiting texts are becoming acceptable, even preferable: it allows you to communicate on a deeper level — a level that was only before seen in physical conversations!

2. Emojis give introverted candidates the tools to shine

We live in an increasingly diverse world, and yet, there are certain qualities that the workforce tends to celebrate more. Extroversion is one of those qualities. Traditionally, extroverts are seen as top candidates due to their gregarious nature, their ease in social settings, and their high-energy. But there have been numerous studies and articles written proving that introverts are the unsung heroes of the workplace and make great leaders.

That’s why, when text-based recruiting entered the picture, introverts everywhere released a collective sigh of relief (including the author of this article ). Since we introverts value “quiet solitude and time to think before speaking (or acting)” , the more tools we have to back up our words, the better.

And the great news for introverts is that the benefits of using text and emojis to feel more comfortable during the recruiting process goes beyond the initial screening. Companies are using text in the interview process and to increase employee retention and satisfaction by sending out automated texts and surveys, so employees can continue communicating in a way that suits their preferences even after they’re already hired!

3. Emojis make processing ideas easier and faster

Did you know that the human brain has this amazing capacity to process visuals 60K times faster than text?! That means that even if you’re an introvert and prefer more time to process, you still process and retain more information if an emoji is present.

The ability to process information and make a decision quickly, say whether or not you’re interested in a new job opportunity, is key for a tight labor force where time is of the essence for recruiters and candidates. The sooner that both parties can get through pre-screening questions, the sooner that an interview can be scheduled or focus can shift to more interested or qualified candidates. Everyone wins!

It’s safe to say that emojis are definitely here to stay, and for the recruiting world, they’ve brought a level of personality and understanding you used to only get face-to-face.

They don’t simply add a little pizzaz to our recruiting conversations; they enhance the candidate experience and allow recruiters to relate and connect in a way that’s inclusive, effective, and fast.

If you want to learn more about best practices for using emojis and want to know how they’re used in text-based and social recruiting, reach out to us for all of your questions and thoughts about emojis, recruiting, and the candidate experience.