Screening warehouse applicants by SMS or chatbot works when the exchange is short, asks only what the shift needs, and passes anyone unclear to a person. Seven questions are a workable starting set for most casual and permanent warehouse roles: right to work, shift pattern, start date, licence, travel to site, physical tasks and recent experience.
The tool should sort simple facts, not make the hiring decision, check a visa or reject someone for staying silent. This guide covers the questions, the wording, the texting rules from ACMA, the communications regulator, and the handover points. It is general information, not legal advice, so check the linked government sources or get advice for your own situation.
Which seven questions belong in an SMS pre-screening exchange?
Seven questions are enough for a first screen when many people apply, provided each asks for one fact that a person can answer in a few words from a phone.
- Right to work - "Do you have the right to work in Australia?" Yes or no. This is a declaration only, and the check comes later.
- Shift pattern - "This role is Monday to Friday, 5.30am to 2pm. Can you work those shifts?" State the roster you are really offering, including nights or weekends.
- Start date - "How soon could you start?" A short answer is fine.
- Licence - "Do you hold a current forklift licence? If yes, which class?" Ask only when the role needs one.
- Travel to site - "Can you get to our Laverton site for a 5.30am start?" The suburb is an illustration. Ask whether they can attend, not how.
- Physical tasks - "This role involves standing all shift and lifting cartons up to 15 kg, for example. Can you do these tasks, with or without adjustments?"
- Recent experience - "Which warehouse tasks did you do in your last job?" A person reads this one.
Adjust the questions to the role. If you would rather fill pick and pack work through an agency, the guide to pick packer labour hire covers how to brief one.
How do you word screening questions without bias?
Word each question around a genuine requirement of the job, and ask the same set of every applicant. The Australian Human Rights Commission's guide to preventing discrimination in recruitment tells employers to ask all candidates the same common questions and to seek only information about the skills and abilities the job needs.
Its example about interstate travel fits the travel question: an employer can ask whether the applicant can meet the requirement without asking about family responsibilities. For a 5.30am start, ask whether the person can attend, and leave out childcare and who they live with.
Describe the physical tasks rather than asking about health. The same guide says it may be against the law to ask whether an applicant has made a workers' compensation claim or how much sick leave they took, when the question does not relate to the job. It also warns that an online-only application can deter some applicants with disability, so put a phone number in the first message.
Do you need consent to text a warehouse applicant?
ACMA's spam rules apply to marketing messages, and its pages do not say whether a screening text to someone who applied for your job counts, so the careful approach is to get consent and offer an opt-out anyway. ACMA's guidance on avoiding spam says a sender of marketing messages must first have consent, identify itself with contact details and make it easy to unsubscribe.
ACMA describes spam as a commercial message, meaning one with offers, advertisements or promotions. A plain question about shifts and licences is not obviously a promotion, but a text that also promotes your business could be.
Put the consent on the application, not in a first text. ACMA lists a form or tick box as express consent, says you cannot send an electronic message to ask for consent because that is itself a marketing message, and says the sender must be able to prove consent, so record who agreed, when and how.
Make the opt-out work. ACMA says it should be clear, free apart from the usual text charge and honoured within five working days, with "Reply STOP" as an example. It also warns that alphanumeric sender names generally cannot receive replies, so use a number that can. A first message might read: "Hi Sam, this is [business name] about your warehouse application. Call [phone number] with questions. Reply STOP to opt out."
What should an automated screen never decide alone?
Right to work, licences, physical ability and silence each need a person before anyone is rejected or hired.
- Right to work - A "yes" is not a check. The Department of Home Affairs says it is against the law to hire a non-citizen without a valid visa or for work that breaks their visa conditions, and tells employers to check visa work conditions through VEVO with the visa holder's permission. VEVO cannot confirm Australian citizenship, so a person checks a certificate or passport for those applicants.
- Licence - A typed answer is not evidence, so ask to see the card before the first shift. The WorkSafe Victoria licence page lists forklift (LF) and order-picking forklift (LO) as separate classes, so a class mismatch goes to a person.
- Physical tasks - A "no" gets a follow-up call about adjustments and the actual duties.
- Silence - No reply is not a refusal, because numbers change and messages get missed. Send one reminder, then call. The guide to preventing seasonal worker ghosting covers keeping accepted candidates in touch before day one.
- The final decision - A person reads the answers, decides and records the reasons.
When should the exchange hand over to a person?
Hand over when an answer is a maybe, a "no" that depends on an adjustment, or a question the script cannot answer. Each handover should carry the applicant's answers in one short summary.
Plan the volume too. In high volume warehouse hiring, 300 applications for 20 casual roles might, with illustrative figures, leave 90 people who pass all seven questions. That is still 90 calls, so decide in advance who is called first, using job-related points such as shift fit.
Applicants will reply from a phone, so keep each message short; the post on mobile recruitment in logistics covers the wider picture. A website chatbot follows the same design: tell people it is automated and offer a person. Chandler Personnel provides labour hire and permanent recruitment for warehousing and logistics employers if you would rather hand the hiring over.
How do you test the screen before the pile arrives?
Before it goes live, run the script on ten past applications, using the answers on file or a colleague playing each applicant, including some people you hired and some you passed over. Do not text past applicants to test it. Read every case where the screen and your recruiter disagree. For the first fortnight, read every rejection. The screen will not fix a weak ad, low pay or an unpopular roster, and it cannot judge reliability.
Related Resources
- ACMA on spam rules and consent
- Home Affairs on checking visa conditions online
- Victorian guidance on recruitment and discrimination
- Fair Work Ombudsman on visa holders and migrants
- Legal considerations when hiring blue collar workers
- Request staff
Frequently Asked Questions
How many questions should an SMS pre-screening have?
Six to eight is a workable range, and seven is a sensible starting point for most warehouse roles. Each should be a single fact tied to the shift, answerable in a few words. Anything that needs a paragraph belongs in a phone call.
Can I text a job applicant without asking consent first?
Do not assume you can. ACMA's spam rules cover marketing messages, and its pages do not say whether a screening text to an applicant is covered, so the careful approach is to collect consent on the application form, name your business and give contact details in the message, and include a working way to stop. If you are unsure about your situation, get advice.
Can a chatbot reject warehouse applicants automatically?
It can be set up that way, but right to work, licences, physical tasks and silence should go to a person first. A rejection on a plain job-related fact, such as a shift the person cannot work, is simpler to explain than one based on a free-text answer. Either way, a person should see the list.
What if an applicant cannot or will not use text?
Offer a phone call from the first message and ask the same seven questions. The Australian Human Rights Commission guide notes that a single online route can deter some applicants and suggests an alternative.
Screening warehouse applicants without losing good people
A short text screen sorts the simple facts and leaves judgement to a person. Seven job-related questions, one consent tick box, a working STOP and a clear handover rule make up the whole design. Start by writing the shift, licence and physical tasks of your next role in plain words, turn each into one question and test the script on ten past applications.
