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Best Practices for Handling Opt-in and Opt-out in the US
Best Practices for Handling Opt-in and Opt-out in the US

All you need to know about candidate opt-in and opt-out

Sam Abello avatar
Written by Sam Abello
Updated over a week ago

When texting with candidates, it's important to inform yourself on opt-in and opt-out rules and best practices to ensure you're creating the best possible candidate experience.

With that in mind, let's look at some best practices below for both....

Managing Opt-In

There are several ways you can approach receiving opt in from candidates:

  • The application process

  • A Text-for-jobs campaign (candidates texting inbound to your company)

  • A job board

The most common scenario is to use the application process to acquire expressed consent from candidates. User consent to receive messages is not just good practice, it is required by US carriers.

Getting expressed consent is key

Add a required opt-in question to your applications, below are a few examples:

“Opt-in to receive text messages about jobs at [Company name]? Please answer with Yes or No.”

“I would like to receive updates from a recruiter about this job via SMS. Please answer with Yes or No.”

“I would like to receive interview, timecard, or payment notifications and reminders via SMS. Please answer with Yes or No.”

If you're having trouble wading through this topic, please chat with us below. We'd be happy to help!

See SMS Consent Question Examples for more inspo ✨

Managing Opt-out

When you first start texting with a candidate, make sure they are aware of their ability to opt out – we recommend adding a line like the one below in your first message to a candidate:

"Text STOP to opt out"

You want to keep this language short and clear, so there is no confusion and so you don't use up too many characters (there's a 480 character limit on messages sent via Grayscale).

As an added measure, outbound messages will be blocked if candidates have opted out by replying with any of the following industry standard terms:

  • Stop

  • Stopall

  • Quit

  • Cancel

  • Unsubscribe

  • End

It is important you manage or track opt-outs in your ATS or candidate system of record.

NOTE: Starting in March 2021, Grayscale will be including this default opt out language to all bulk messages and campaigns. You will be able to disable this, but as a default it will be enabled.

Looking for more information on SMS compliance and opt-in? Check out these articles:


If you're having trouble figuring out the best way to handle opt out at your company, please chat with us below!

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