SMS and WhatsApp candidate notifications

Written By Jozef

Last updated 16 days ago

Many candidates don't read e-mail, but they do read WhatsApp and SMS. JobMojito can send interview invitations and reminders by WhatsApp or SMS as well as the e-mail. Each message has a button or link that opens the interview straight away. Candidates can reply, and an AI support agent answers their questions about the interview.

This article covers how to switch the feature on, which messages are sent, how the channel is chosen, what the candidate can do, how messages are billed, and where you can see what was sent.

1. Requirements

Requirement	Details
Plan	Any active paid plan, Starter and up. Free and Free verified accounts don't see the setting.
Credits	Messages are charged in credits (section 6). Accounts on post-paid (Special) plans are invoiced for them instead.
Phone number	The candidate needs a phone number in international format, e.g. `+421 903 123 456`. A number with no country code (starting with `0`) is skipped.

2. Switching it on

The setting lives on the interview, or on the position when you hire with a multi-stage position.

Standalone interview: Interviews ▸ (your interview) ▸ Edit ▸ General ▸ SMS / WhatsApp notifications
Position: Positions ▸ (your position) ▸ Settings tab ▸ SMS / WhatsApp notifications. The setting applies to every step of the position.

Option	What the candidate receives by SMS / WhatsApp
Off (default)	Nothing. E-mail only.
Invitation and reminders	The invitation, every reminder and the "pre-screening accepted" message
With reminders	The reminders only. The invitation still goes by e-mail.
With the last reminder only	Only the final reminder, as a last nudge before the deadline

You can change the setting at any time, including on a published interview. The change applies to messages sent from that moment on.

Below the dropdown you'll see the typical price per WhatsApp message and per SMS segment.

3. Adding phone numbers

Invite form: fill in Phone number (optional) when you invite a candidate.
API: pass phone (E.164 format, e.g. +421903123456) to the register users endpoint. See the developer documentation. A phone number already stored on a candidate is never overwritten.
ATS integrations: numbers imported with the candidate are used when they're in international format.

4. What gets sent, and when

Messages follow the e-mail sequence. They don't replace it: the e-mail always goes out too.

Message	When	Sent with
Invitation	When you invite the candidate	Invitation and reminders
Pre-screening accepted	When the candidate passes pre-screening and is moved on to the interview	Invitation and reminders
Reminder	About 1 day after the invitation, if the interview hasn't been completed	Invitation and reminders, With reminders
Last reminder	About 3 days after the invitation	all three options
Pre-screening reminder	When a pre-screening application was started but not finished	all three options

If you add a personal note to the invitation, WhatsApp shows it in the message (up to 300 characters). SMS doesn't include the note, because it would multiply the number of billed segments. Instead it says "The hiring team left you a note, reply to read it", and the AI agent repeats the note when the candidate replies.

Languages. Message templates exist in English, Slovak, Czech, German, Spanish, Croatian, Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish, Arabic and Vietnamese. The candidate's language is used when available; otherwise English.

Example (WhatsApp invitation, English):

Hi Maria, Acme Cruises has shortlisted you for Assistant Waiter and invites you to a short online interview. It takes up to 15 minutes, you can do it on your phone whenever suits you, and your answers are reviewed by their hiring team. [Start interview]

5. Channel: WhatsApp first, SMS as fallback

Every message is tried on WhatsApp first.
If WhatsApp delivery fails for any reason (number not on WhatsApp, blocked, outside the reply window), the same message is re-sent by SMS automatically.
The platform remembers what works for each candidate. A number that turns out not to have WhatsApp gets SMS straight away from then on.

Sender. Messages come from a JobMojito business number (currently +44 7401 449388). Under Configuration ▸ Portal customisation ▸ Interview portal ▸ SMS / WhatsApp sender number, the default is Automatic (by the candidate's country). Ask support if you need a dedicated or local sender number.

Links. The WhatsApp button opens jobmojito.com/r/…, which forwards to your own interview portal. SMS links point to your portal domain directly. The link signs the candidate in to that one interview. No password is needed.

Regions. SMS is processed by Twilio's EU region (Dublin). WhatsApp has no EU region, so WhatsApp messages are processed by Twilio in the US and delivered through Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Both providers are listed in Subprocessors.

6. Pricing

Messages are charged at the actual price reported by the carrier.

WhatsApp: charged once the message is delivered or read. The price is Twilio's per-message fee plus Meta's utility template fee for the candidate's country.
SMS: charged per segment once the message is sent or delivered. A plain-text English message is usually 1–2 segments.
Failed or undelivered messages are never charged.
Candidate replies and AI agent answers are not charged.

Typical prices (credits per message; the exact amount depends on the carrier price on the day):

Destination	WhatsApp	SMS (per segment)
United Kingdom	≈ 0.04	≈ 0.06
Germany	≈ 0.07	≈ 0.09
Italy	≈ 0.05	≈ 0.08
Spain, Portugal, Poland, Croatia	≈ 0.05	≈ 0.05–0.08
France, Netherlands, Belgium	≈ 0.06	≈ 0.08–0.09
India	≈ 0.02	≈ 0.01
United States / Canada	≈ 0.03	≈ 0.01
Other countries	≈ 0.06	≈ 0.09

Message charges appear as SMS message and WhatsApp message in Subscription & Payments ▸ Credits usage, and in the credits analytics.

7. Seeing what was sent

Open Candidates ▸ (candidate) ▸ History and filter by WhatsApp. Each message shows:

its stage (Invitation, Reminder, Last reminder, Pre-screening accepted, Pre-screening reminder)
its type (Automated message, AI agent, resent by SMS, link card)
its delivery status (Queued, Sent, Delivered, Read, Failed, Undelivered)
the credits charged, and a plain-language reason when it failed, e.g. "The number is not on WhatsApp"

Candidate replies and agent answers appear in the same thread.

8. The AI support agent

When a candidate replies to a message, an AI agent answers within a few seconds, in the candidate's language.

What it can help with

who the message is from and what the role is
how the interview works: format, length, whether a camera is needed, the deadline
re-sending the interview link (as a button on WhatsApp, as a link by SMS)
the status of the candidate's own applications with your company
practical and technical questions, answered from the JobMojito help centre
how to stop the messages

What it will not do

coach the candidate on answers, or discuss salary, legal or visa questions
share scores or AI analysis, or predict an outcome
give out recruiter e-mail addresses or phone numbers. It points candidates to your candidate portal instead.
send any link that the platform didn't provide

It only knows about the candidate's own invitations from the last 60 days. For white-label portals it never mentions JobMojito.

9. Opt-out

Candidates can reply STOP at any time. After that they get no more SMS or WhatsApp notifications (e-mails are not affected). They can reply START to opt back in. The candidate's opt-out status is stored on their record, and the platform skips them automatically.

10. Questions and answers

Q: Does SMS/WhatsApp replace the invitation e-mail? A: No. The e-mail is always sent. SMS/WhatsApp is an extra channel.

Q: A candidate says they got nothing. What should I check? A: Check that the number has a country code, that the interview setting is not Off, and the candidate's History tab for a failed status and its reason.

Q: Can we use our own WhatsApp Business number? A: Not self-service yet. Contact support to discuss a dedicated sender.

Q: Can we test it without contacting real candidates? A: Invite yourself, with your own phone number, to a test or draft interview with the setting switched on.

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