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Writer's pictureJade Lee

Opportunity Calls from an Unknown Number

Do you pride yourself on screening phone calls? You never get harassed by telemarketers, those who wanting you to be better equipped in retirement or those who want to help you reduce climate change through installing solar panels. I hear you, it is so annoying to try and get out of a conversation with a salesperson who has a target to meet. But do you know what is more annoying? In fact, it is downright stupid…. missing out on an amazing job opportunity because you were too suspicious to answer your phone.

Every day, there are recruiters desperate to fill jobs who have to leave messages (if you are helpful enough to have a voice mail), send text messages and email, or as one recruiter said, “I will send smoke signals if I have to.” This is a damn good recruiter who prides herself on getting the best person for the job, if you are lucky enough to encounter her on your job search, you will likely get an interview just by being the best candidate. However, if you don’t answer your phone, I wouldn’t count on being followed up by at least 50% of recruiters in the business.

Imagine this, a recruiter has a list of 8 people to phone screen to get 3 interviews booked. This recruiter is overworked and overwhelmed as most recruiters are and this is how it rolls:

Candidate A – did not answer, left message

Candidate B – answered has found another job

Candidate C – did not answer, no voice mail

Candidate D – answered, completed phone screen, sounds excellent, interview booked

Candidate E – answered, arranged a better time to call back, completed phone screen, sounds OK, interview booked

Candidate F – did not answer, left message - called back 10 minutes later, completed phone screen does not fit requirements for the role

Candidate G – did not answer, left message

Candidate H – Did not answer, left message, called back 15 minutes later, did phone screen, sounds great, booked interview.

When candidates A, C, and G call back (if they do), they will be told they have arranged first-round interviews and they will keep them in mind if something else comes up. This opportunity is lost. They may be better than the 3 that were chosen to progress to interview, but they will never know because they did not prioritise answering their phone when they were job searching.

The recruiter should have talked to everyone before they decided on the successful candidates, I hear you cry, this is not fair, they should have waited for me to get back to them, I never answer unknown numbers. Guess what people, opportunity calls from an unknown number and if you don’t answer, it will pick up the phone and call another prospect. Whether it be a recruiter, a new client or the golden casket office they will all likely be calling from a number that you don’t know. Pick up the phone, put a smile on your dial, answer in a cheery and professional manner challenging the universe to give you a break. If you believe that every call is an opportunity more opportunities will come your way, while you are at it, in case you are in a meeting when opportunity calls make sure you have a professional voicemail that you check regularly!

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