Once you've connected WhatsApp to your account, it becomes the priority channel for messaging candidates — attempted first for every message, with SMS used automatically as a fallback for candidates who aren't on WhatsApp. This article covers how candidate messaging, consent, and account management work once the integration is enabled.
Channel priority, WhatsApp vs SMS
Before WhatsApp is connected, messaging works as it does today, with SMS as the only available channel. Once the status indicator in your settings turns green, messaging can happen via WhatsApp or SMS, with WhatsApp always attempted first.
- First message to a candidate: WhatsApp is attempted, since Workable doesn't yet know whether the candidate has WhatsApp. If they do, the message is delivered via WhatsApp and the candidate's channel is saved as WhatsApp. If they don't, the message is sent as SMS instead, and the candidate's channel is saved as SMS.
- Subsequent messages: once a candidate's channel is known, messages are sent directly via that saved channel, and there is no way to switch between channels.
A saved SMS channel isn't permanent — a candidate may install WhatsApp later. Workable automatically retries WhatsApp one month after a candidate was saved as not on WhatsApp. If a candidate's phone number is edited, the next message is treated as a first-time send, and WhatsApp is attempted immediately.
You can identify the channel used for a candidate through the message icon shown on their profile, and through their timeline, where messages are labeled as sent via WhatsApp or sent via SMS.
Note: Workable doesn't support SMS in every country. If a candidate has WhatsApp, this restriction no longer applies to them — they're reachable via WhatsApp even in a country where SMS is unsupported.
Sending messages to candidates
Once the integration is complete, you can see a WhatsApp message icon on the candidate's profile.
Selecting it opens the WhatsApp message editor, which works like the SMS editor but adds rich formatting — italics, bold text, and numbered and bulleted lists.
Messaging openers
WhatsApp has strict rules about how businesses can message end users: the first message in a conversation must be a pre-approved template message. Once the candidate replies, a 24-hour messaging window opens, during which recruiters can send free-form messages. If 24 hours pass with no incoming message, the window closes, and a template must be sent again.
Workable handles this automatically:
- If there's an active messaging window, your message is sent directly to the candidate.
- If there isn't, your message is queued (it appears in the Timeline but isn't sent yet) while an approved template — referred to as an opener — is sent to the candidate first.
The candidate must select a button in the opener to continue. Once they do, your queued message is delivered, and the Timeline status updates to Delivered, then Read. If the candidate replies with free text instead of selecting a button, they receive a follow-up prompt nudging them to use a button — your message stays queued until they do. Openers and the candidate's button replies don't appear in your timeline.
The opener used depends on the candidate's status:
-
Applied candidates: a single opener with one "View update" button
- Sourced candidates (uploaded or sourced via Search with AI candidates who didn't apply): the first-ever WhatsApp contact for a job sends an initial opener with two buttons, "Yes, tell me more" and "No, thanks". The second outreach will have one "View update" button (since they have already given consent to the initial outreach).
Note that opener templates are fixed. You can view these templates directly in your Meta Business Portfolio, but you shouldn't edit them there, as this causes integration errors.
Messaging consent
WhatsApp uses the same texting consent model you're already familiar with. Additionally, when a sourced candidate selects "No, thanks" on an outreach opener, this registers as no consent for that job, and your queued message is discarded and marked Not delivered on the candidate timeline.
This is relevant to the specific job only — the candidate can still receive WhatsApp messages for other jobs they're being considered for. It also registers as no consent for that job, so the consent banner appears on your next message attempt, and you can still override it to proceed with sending.
Delivery status updates
In the candidate's timeline, WhatsApp messages show one of four statuses:
- Sent: the opener has been sent, or has been delivered and is awaiting the candidate's response, or your queued message has been released and sent but delivery isn't confirmed yet
- Delivered: the message has been confirmed as delivered
- Read: the candidate has opened the message
- Not delivered: the opener failed to send, a queued message failed to deliver, the candidate opted out via "No, thanks", or another send failure occurred
If a message isn't delivered and you're not sure why, contact our Support team to look into the specific reason.
Candidates in multiple jobs
When a candidate is being considered for more than one job at the same time, WhatsApp keeps each job's conversation on its own phone number — this prevents messages for different jobs from mixing into the same thread, both in the candidate's WhatsApp app and in their Timeline in Workable. The display name stays the same across all threads; only the underlying number differs.
Meta applies limits on how many concurrent job-candidate threads an account can have:
- Verified Meta Business Portfolios: up to 20 concurrent job-candidate threads
- Unverified Meta Business Portfolios: up to 2 concurrent job-candidate threads
If this limit is reached, the message isn't sent and doesn't fall back to SMS. It shows as Not delivered, and you'll see an error indicating your account has reached its phone number allocation, with the option to email the candidate instead. You can retry sending later — Workable checks the limit again on every attempt, so the message goes through as soon as a number frees up.
FAQs
- Can I send images or documents to candidates over WhatsApp?
No. WhatsApp messaging through Workable is text only, in both directions. Candidates can't send you media either — anything they attach on their side won't reach you.
- Can I keep using SMS instead of WhatsApp once it's connected?
There's no setting to prefer SMS while WhatsApp is connected, since WhatsApp is always attempted first. If you'd rather use SMS only, you can disconnect the WhatsApp integration from Integrations > WhatsApp.