What Does Your Phone Have To Do With Getting the Job?
A resume reads "Objective: To utilize my skills and enthusiasm in a working environment where I can contribute to and help achieve the overall goals of the company" and goes on to list brilliant skills, education and experience. Impressed, an employer picks up the phone to immediately call the person on their mobile number. It barely rings twice and goes to voice mail. The voice mail greeting says in a very low, unclear and depressed tone of voice, "What's-up? Leave a message." The employer, confused, wonders, "is this the correct person?" and hangs up, perhaps to try back another time, but more likely never to call again.
This is a far too common example of how a great attitude, polished skills and a killer resume can go to waste. The reality is that communication skills need to be used far beyond the resume and considerably before even getting to the interview stage. And you are putting out communication in ways you never thought of. From your resume to your voice mail, how you communicate forms impressions on others.
What Are The 3 Most Common Phone Mistakes Job Applicants Make?
Consider the example just given and that the resume in this case is yours. Now shift your view and pretend for a moment the resume belongs to someone else and YOU are the employer. What would you be thinking? Be honest.
Would you be confused? Think of how the two things, the voice mail greeting and the rseume, contradict each other. Which is true? The resume itself could have been copied from a book or written by someone else, the voice mail is an actual contact, even though the person hasn't even answered the phone. It's no contest.
There are 3 main phone mistakes made by applicants. They are:
1. Obviously Not Answering the Phone
2. Auto Voice Mail Greeting (Computer voice gives number only)
3. Unfriendly, Unprofessional Recorded Greetings
Taken collectively, these explain how it is possible for someone to have an impressive resume, experience and skills and never even get an interview. On a more positive note, these 3 mistakes are a clue to how to improve your communication skills to immediately increase your chances of getting the interview.
Do You "Ignore" Private Calls or Calls from Numbers You Don't Recognize?
Let me start out by saying that, to read my column, you are going to have to achieve a level of honesty with yourself that you may not have explored before. I assure you that looking at things as they actually are will be key to improving your career situation. This is brought up because this first one, "ignoring private or unknown callers" is a biggie and usually involves some personal bad habits.
Can you recall a time when you called someone on their mobile phone and you knew they were ignoring the call? How did you know? Do you remember the feeling in your gut that told you this was so? Perhaps it was because it rang a couple of times and then went to voice mail and if the person was not near their phone it would have rung many mroe times. But, how did you know that? Chances are you have done it before.
Whatever the reasons for not answering, it easily can be assumed by another that you are avoiding calls. And, if it's obvious to you when this kind of thing happens, it's obvious to someone else. After all, do you know of anyone who has NEVER ignored a call?
In your defense, sometimes your phone DOES ring a full 4 or 5 times and goes to voice mail. It's the fact that the person calls back within a minute or so (about the time it took to listen to a voicemail) to follow up. This is the most obvious.
So, what does the employer think? Suffice to say that it doesn't make a great first or second impression at all. Whatever your reasons for avoiding answering unknown calls, this can be a major strike against you. Give the employer some credit. Wouldn't you wonder why the person avoided answering? Whatever the personal problem this could be, any employer can start to think that this person's problem can become his office's problem in a hurry.
The correction is simple and requires only one step - answer the phone regardless of whether you know the number or not. If you find this difficult then you should take another honest look at the things that make you avoid answering and figure out how to handle that situation once and for all. It's usually an easier fix than you thought. Trust me, you will feel much better if you do! Enough said on that subject.
Do You Use the Automated Voice Mail Greeting That Just Gives Your Number?
This is inlcuded here mostly because of the confusion factor on the part of the employer but it does also "say" a few things about you.
When someone calls and receives a computer voice greeting like "No one is available to take your call right now. Please leave you message after the tone" (an actual answering machine standard greeting) it, first, leaves them wondering if they even reached the correct person. Secondly, it leaves a cold, impersonal impression that you did not care enough or were not professional enough to record a professional and personal greeting assuring the caller of who you are.
Whether you believe this or not, why take the chance? Why not have a professional greeting anyway? It can only count in your favor. Again, if for some reason you can not do this, you need to ask yourself why. More importantly realize that it can count against you and take steps to fix it.
Does Your Recorded Voice Mail Greeting Sound Like Someone YOU Would Hire?
This one is self-explanitory. Listen to the greeting you have. Ask others to listen if necessary. Ask yourself, does this sound like a professional? Does it sound like someone I would want to hire? Your answer to this question will tell you whether you need to change it or not.
If you do need to change it, simply record a friendly, short, clearly-spoken greeting introducing yourself to callers so they can hear and understand that they are in the right place.
It is pretty certain that when you first read the title of this article, you didn't think this much could be said about phone contact, voicemail, etc. As you can see, it is a crucial part of this multi-phase job-getting process and is another area you can adjust to increase your chances of getting the job.
Give this one a try. Look at the 3 mistakes above in order and check them against your own habits one by one. Make the necessary changes and see what happens.
Best of luck on your interview!
Frank Sardella
©2011 Screenings Inc. All rights Reserved.
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