As many of you know I’m on the hunt… for a job that is. I’ve gotten many calls, many emails, many leads and many pains in the… ahem. So this is a community service blog for all of you recruiters out there that are having a hard time getting through to me. It’s a guide to getting Jonathan Franzone, or any possible hire for that matter, to call you back. So listen up!
1) Email First, Then Call
If you’ve gotten my phone number and are calling me then you have my email address… period. I do not post my phone number without my email address and everywhere that it is posted I will state that I prefer an initial email to setup a call. Why is this? Because I do not want to waste your time or my time. If I am not interested in the position you have to offer or do not meet the qualifications listing then why bother with a phone conversation? I’ll politely respond not interested and we can both mutually continue with our lives.
2) Job Description
A job description! I am not talking about some vague listing of skills either. This should be a very concise description of the work that will be expected upon hire. Why is this such a difficult thing to ask of people in the human resources field? This goes for both email AND phone calls. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve gotten an email or call that says, “Hello my name is blah blah and I found your resume on who’s your daddy job board and can you please call me.” That’s it. No… I’m not going to call you. For all I know you could be a serial killer! Put forth a little effort and write out a job description. I want to know what it is that you want me to do for you and whether or not it is something that I would like to do before I make the decision to talk to you.
3) Language Barrier
You’ve decided to call me either because I let you know it was OK to do so or you have just ignored number one. Chances are you will get the answering machine because of the miracle of caller ID. That’s right folks… you didn’t authenticate. Don’t hang up! Leave a message. Of course in doing so language and comprehension are everything. If I cannot understand what you are saying… DELETE. I’m not just talking about ethnic language barriers, although that can be one. If it is then you should be especially deliberate about your speech.
- Speak slowly and in a clear voice.
- State a brief summarization of the job description. Example: I would like to talk to you about a Java Web Engineer position in West Palm Beach, FL working with the Spring and Hibernate frameworks.
- State your name SLOWLY
- State your number SLOWLY
- State your number again SLOWLY (Yes, I can play the message again, but I hate to do so)
BTW – I don’t live in or around West Palm Beach, but if you would like to hire someone for remote/telecommute work then I’m your man! 😉
4) Professional Appearance
Toll free numbers are a big help in this area. Now you may say, “Wait a minute, Jonathan. Anyone with a cell phone these days can make long distance calls for free.” True, but the title says appearance now doesn’t it? It’s probably just something left over in my brain, but a company seems more legitimate to me if they have a toll free number. Also if you have an extension that let’s me know that there are more than one employee there. If I call the number you’ve given me and someone picks up and answers, “Hello?” I’m not going to be too impressed. It feels a bit like calling uncle Bob’s on a weekend. Of course there is a balance here. Don’t make me feel like you are such a huge company that I am not comfortable calling you. I don’t want to jump through five gazillion hoops to talk to you either.
5) Make Me An Offer I Can’t Refuse
$1 Million Dollars! Yeah, I know I’m dreaming. I did have one recruiter contact me though with a job that was just so perfect that it hurt. Why did it hurt? Because I couldn’t persue the job. It would have involved relocating to an area that I could not justify moving my family to. I am above all devoted to my family and so I had to tell them I was not interested. I then went to my room and wept for days. Anyway, I know this isn’t always possible but it doesn’t hurt to SELL your jobs. You are a salesman after all. You are selling jobs. So at least try to make them sound attractive.