5 Bad Etiquette Phone Habits That Will Make You Lose Out On The Job

While your resume might have made a great impression and gotten the employer or recruiter’s attention, the first real impression a recruiter or employer has of you is usually via the phone when you set up the job interview. Practicing any one of these five bad phone habits may keep you from getting that coveted job.

1.   Not Having Your Voicemail Set Up

Not having a voicemail for the employer to leave you a message could be the kiss of death for that job you just spent all that time applying for. If you don’t answer the phone and you don’t have a voicemail for the employer to leave a message, then you might have just lost out on the job.

Even if you think that your voicemail is set up, check it to make sure. If you’ve gotten a new phone recently, voicemail doesn’t automatically get set up, so you may need to go in and set up your voicemail again.

2.   Having a Rude Or Inefficient Voicemail

Your voicemail is essentially the first impression an employer has of you. You might have thought it would be funny to set up a silly voicemail, but now that you’re applying for jobs, you should definitely change your voicemail to something more professional. A professional voicemail will include your name and will NOT just be you repeating your phone number. They know which number they called – they want to know that they’ve reached the right person. 

Here is an example of a professional voicemail:

“Hi, you’ve reached Jennifer Jelliff-Russell’s voicemail. Please leave a message and your number and I’ll return your call shortly.” 

3.    Ring Back Tones

No one likes the music that we have to listen to when we’re put on hold, so why make someone else listen to your music when they’re calling you? Regardless of how amazing you think that song is or how “professional” you think it is to play classical music as a ring back tone – don’t do it. No one likes to be made to listen to someone else’s music.

4.   Answering the phone impolitely

This can be the kiss of death – especially if you’re applying for anything in customer service! You might answer the phone a certain way when your friends call, but that is not the same way you should answer when a potential employer or recruiter calls. 

Even if you don’t know who is calling, the professional way to answer the phone is: “Hi, this is Jennifer speaking.”

Again, remember that speaking on the phone with an employer or recruiter is the first personal impression you’ll make on them. Make it a good one.

5.   Screening Phone Calls

I know – this is a tough one! I am absolutely guilty of screening calls on my personal phone, but never when I’m in the process of looking for work. Here’s the thing – what if an employer calls, decides not to leave a message, and you don’t call them back either? You may have just missed out on getting at least an interview!

As much as it rankles to have to answer every call and possibly deal with telemarketers, it’s far better to do this than to miss out on speaking with an interested employer.