Intelligent Messaging Keyword Bots

Overview

Intelligent Messaging Keyword Bots provide automated screening and data collection through SMS with keywords. With Keyword Bot, you can easily set up screening questions, such as "Are you able to work full time?". As soon as a prospect answers that question, the next question is sent, all without clicking a single button.

Keyword bots allow you to do things like:

• Create different paths based on a prospect's response
• Collect file (e.g., resume)
• Export all your prospect responses
• Amplify your employment brand by including links to brand videos in your closing message

Audience

Recruiters, Hiring Managers, Admins

Bot Preparation

Before beginning your first Bot, think about how you want to use your Bot and your hiring goals. Think through questions like:

• How and why would you use this Bot?
  • Would you like a general keyword bot to screen and send people to your open positions?
  • Would you like to filter your candidates by location or job category?
  • Would you like to use your Bot at a hiring event to gather interested candidates' contact information and resume?
• How will this keyword bot and your specific use cases help your recruiting team?
• What results would you like from this Bot (i.e., more hires, freeing up recruiter time, screening for better candidates, etc.)?

Build a Keyword Bot

When logged into your Evolve ATS account, click the 9-dot menu in the upper left-hand corner and select Intelligent Messaging.

Select the Bots tab.

Click View Dashboard in the Keyword section.

Click the New Keyword Bot dropdown, then select Create New Bot.

You will be redirected to the Details section of the bot builder screen. From here, complete the following fields below for Keyword Details and Default Messages:

Keyword Details

Default Messages

Default Messages allow you to set up communication with your prospects to help guide them through the screening process. There are four types of Default Messages, each of which is optional (but recommended).

Now that you have the foundation set for your keyword bot, it is time to build out your questions. To start, click Save and Go to Builder.

Before we build the Bot, let's review the six different question types:

To begin adding questions, click the Bot Builder tab.

Select Click to add to a slot.

For this example, we will first add the question What is your first and last name?.

Since we are expecting the candidate to input a text response, we will select TEXT as the data or Question type.

We will also add Name as the field name, which is recorded for reporting purposes.

Next, we will add the question Do you have 2+ years of experience in sales?, and make the field name Experience.

Since this will be a yes/no answer and we will take action based on their positive (yes) or negative (no) response, we will set the Question type as SENTIMENT.

To indicate the action(s) we want to take based on the candidate's response, select the control icon to the right of the question.

The Conditional pop-up will display. Start the condition with Is Negative, meaning we want an action to be taken if the candidate responds with anything negative – such as No, Nope, Nah, etc. To do this, select the Response drop-down and select Is Negative.

Click Save Conditional.

RECRUITER TIP: You can select other conditions for your questions, such as "Contains a positive response" (yes, yeah, yep, etc.), "Contains a neutral response" (responding "neutral" to a scaled question), or "Containing anything" (setting an action to take no matter what the candidate says).

Now, we will see the negative value condition under the question. If the candidate says no to the question, click the action icon to indicate the action you want to take.

For this example, we will select Send to Ejection Message, which was set up earlier.

Once you select the action you want to take, you will see the complete condition mapping for when a negative response is given under the question.

If you would like to go one step further, you can ask "How many years of sales experience do you have in sales?". For all positive, or yes, responses to the question. To do this, select the condition icon, select Is Positive, and then select Ask a Clarifying Question. In the Message field, add How many years of experience do you have in sales.

Next, we will add a File question to ask the candidate to upload their resume. To do this, add a slot with Please send your Resume as the title, Resume for the Field Name, and select FILE as the Question type.

Last, make a condition that the Closing Message will follow if a file is sent. To do this, select the condition icon, select Contains File as the response, then select the action to be Send to Closing Message.

Once you have added all your questions, click Start Bot.

Now that the Bot is started, your prospect can text the keyword(s) you created to the Bot number you selected, which will kick off the messaging and questions you created.

NOTE: You will need to pause your Bot if you want to add and/or edit your questions.  

Common Keyword Bots

Now that you know how to build a basic Keyword Bot, we want to show you some common examples of Keyword Bots we see daily and how to build them so you can get them up and running as quickly as possible.

Here are some common Keyword Bots:

• General Careers Bot – This is used to get candidates in the door. You can use this Bot to redirect them to many places, such as your career site, open positions, event registration, or other bots like a Location Bot or Category Bot.
• Text to Apply Bot – These are integrated with Evolve ATS and allow you to ask questions and capture resumes, all via text. The added benefit of this Bot is that you can configure it to automatically create an application within the ATS based on the information captured via the bot conversation.
• Job Category Bot—This is used to filter open positions by Job Category, such as Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Product, Finance, etc. A Category Bot can help your candidates quickly find the positions that are right for them by directing them to the correct Job Category URL. This requires your career site to have URLs by Category.
• Job Location Bot—This Bot is useful if you have job openings in multiple cities and/or countries. It directs candidates to the correct URL for all open positions in the location they are interested in. This requires your career site to have URLs by location.
• Event Bot—This Bot can be used to gather registrations for an upcoming hiring event. You may also use an Amplify message to advertise the event, which then directs attendees to this Event Bot to capture their contact information. This requires your event to have a specific registration URL.
• Single Registration Bot – This is used to get candidates to apply for a specific position. For example, a Keyword Bot is used to hire nurses. *Only use this Bot if you have standalone Canvas and do not use Evolve ATS or Recruitment Marketing (RM). If you do use Evolve ATS or RM, use the Text-to-Apply templates instead.
• New Graduate Bot – This Bot can be used to target new graduates and let them know you have entry-level positions that are right for them. This requires a URL dedicated to career information for new graduates.

Bot Outputs

Now that you have made a Keyword Bot, you may be wondering what to do with that Bot. Here are some things to consider:

• Advertise your Bot in marketing and/or at events – This is especially helpful when you are looking to build a pool of possible candidates and/or are looking to screen those candidates for your jobs. See General Career Bot, Events Bot, and Screening Bot in the Common Keyword Bots section above.
• Send to a URL – You can use your Keyword Bot to direct candidates to a specific URL, such as your career site, a job listing, or hiring event registration.
• Text-to-Apply – When using a Text-to-Apply Bot, candidates can directly text to apply for an open position. This also creates a candidate in your ATS so you can follow the appropriate hiring workflow.
• Send to another Keyword Bot – You can use one Keyword Bot to direct to another Keyword Bot. For example, suppose a candidate texts your General Keyword Bot and wants to see your open position by Job Category. In that case, you can direct them to a separate Job Category Bot. See the General Keyword Bot and Job Category Keyword Bot in the Common Keyword Bots section of this document.
• Import and Chat with a Recruiter – With the candidates who come through a Keyword Bot, you could decide to import that candidate into your contacts and begin immediately chatting with a recruiter. You can see this candidate and chat in the Chat and Candidates tabs on the top navigation of your Intelligent Messaging application manager. For more information on chatting with candidates, see the Intelligent Messaging article.

Take Action on Your Keyword Bot Prospects

Once you've built your Keyword Bot and started collecting responses, you can review them by navigating the Intelligent Messaging application manager. You can then select View Dashboard in the Keyword column.

Under your active Keyword Bot, click the number above Prospects.

You can also access your prospects by clicking on the number in the Prospects column.

From the Prospects list, you can take several actions: filter your results, export the dataset to Excel for further analysis, send an Amplify message, import them into a chat with a Recruiter, or send them to Evolve ATS to create a contact record.

Select the candidates you wish to take action on and the three dots in the header row to view the menu and select the action you want to take.