"Unblock Your Calls or Get Blocked from the Job" - 03/27/19 Edition
Stephen Says Column
Dear Stephen:
My wife works in HR at a major manufacturing company. She is a recruiter. I guess you could call her an “in-house headhunter.”
My wife will track down a lot of candidates through LinkedIn or cold call salespeople from a direct competitor. Many times, she’s calling people who simply upload their resume or apply for a job through the company’s website.
She has been doing this for five years, and I have noticed whenever she calls a job applicant, she always does so from a blocked number. It is apparently company policy to ensure nobody’s boss or colleague sees the call on the candidate’s phone. Just as often, she says, candidates will continually badger a headhunter, so it is best if they do not actually know how to reach her. If my wife’s company wants to talk, it will be them making the call.
People today are annoyed by the sheer quantity of robocalls they get through private numbers. Everybody and their mother seems to be wanting to sell something, so even I find myself screening all of my calls. It has gotten so bad I have insisted my wife be sure to call me from her private cell phone, this way I know it is her on the other end, and I can just screen away all of the blocked calls I am getting under the assumption it is a telemarketer.
Here’s my question: I recently lost my job and am looking for a new one. I am dealing with several headhunters, constantly applying online and networking with all of my friends. Through this process and to my dismay, I am coming to realize it is not just my wife — every recruiter and HR person on the planet seems to be calling from a blocked number. Suffice it to say, I am annoyed. I am in a pretty desperate position looking for this new job, so I now find myself being forced to pick up the phone every time it rings, blocked number or not.
Am I crazy to be so annoyed by this? Do you call from a blocked number? I really cannot tell you why, but this whole situation is compounding the stress of my job search to a tremendous degree.
Signed,
Unemployed and Unblocked
Dear U&U,
There are so many more serious things out there for you to be stressing over!
It seems everyone today has become spoiled by the caller ID built into our phones. Yes, robocalls are annoying, but it is far worse to remain without an income for months on end. Remember this next time you’re forced to pick up that phone, and be thankful someone is even looking to speak with you.
Virtually every recruiter and HR professional I know calls from a blocked number. This is not so they can trick you into answering the phone but rather as a courtesy to you, the candidate. What if you were employed, and while your boss was standing over your shoulder your phone started ringing with the caller ID “TVG Recruiters” coming up in big bold lettering. Talk about a bad situation.
I coach people to be sure when they are in job search mode to answer every call. It is really that simple. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, if you are in a particularly public, loud or otherwise unconducive situation, let the phone ring, and call back when you can talk in private and without a short time limit. If the recruiter is truly interested and worth their salt, you better bet they will leave a callback number for you in the voicemail.
Here is something else super important when looking for work: Be sure to really listen to the voicemails people leave you, just do not listen to them on speaker phone when you are job searching. Too often, candidates presume a call is important or worth response and just call back the number without having a real idea of what the call was about. If someone took the time to leave you a message, it is more than likely they want something. Be respectful and listen to them before calling back. This is especially important while in a job search mode. The last thing you want is to make a fool of yourself by calling back someone immediately when you didn’t have to. Once again, LISTEN to the entire message.
Here is what we do and my experience: I will call a candidate once and leave a voicemail. If they are screening their calls, it is their loss. If you got a voicemail from me and didn’t respond at all, I won’t try you again. Your behavior in the recruiting process is indicative of how you may treat your customers, employees or employers. In this business, if you get one strike you are out.
And here is something particularly annoying to me. When I call someone’s cell phone, patiently listen to their voicemail message, and then get a “voice mailbox is full” warning, it makes me crazy. Why wouldn’t everyone in business today, whether or not they are currently looking for a job, take a second to listen to and then clean out their mailbox? YIKES! And then I like to hear a voice message in your voice and name as to who I am calling. I may be hesitant to leave a private, job-related message if I get just a standard message with the phone number, since the number alone does not identify the name of the person I am calling. Make sense? Leave confidential employment information in a voice mail message without knowing where I am leaving it? I do not think so.
On my worst day, I might get five annoying robocalls between my cell, office and home. Even on this day, I will simply pick up the phone, then hang up once I hear the robot. It is hardly the end of the world. It is maybe 40 seconds of my time. Not a big deal. Certainly not a big deal if the opportunity cost is missing a new job or client knocking at the door. If a robot calling and selling vacation packages is such a stress to you, then maybe you shouldn’t be working at all!
Good luck on the search.
Stephen
You can send your workplace questions to Stephen at: StephenSays@bellow.press
Questions selected to be answered, will appear in this column. Please use the Subject: Stephen Says for all emails. Stephen Viscusi is a bestselling author, television personality, and CEO of The Viscusi Group, global executive recruiters located in New York. Follow Stephen on Twitter @stephenviscusi, Like Stephen on Facebook; and follow him on LinkedIn.
The Viscusi Group