Posted under Career Management, Interviewing, Technology on August 27th, 2008
Thanks to the Internet, the interviewer’s first impression of you might be auditory.
Because you’re always on your best behavior in face-to-face interviews, it’s natural to be sensitive to how you come across verbally. You have non-verbal clues to help you judge how well you’re offering value.
Speaking is such a central part of every interview; you just can’t imagine delegating it to someone else…or worse yet, a robot.
Yet there is a robot lurking in your voice mail. Since interviewers are busy people who were hoping to speak with a person (you), that distinctive voice mail sound may be a strike against you. But it doesn’t have to be.
Consider these tips to make your voice mail work in your favor. Listen to your outgoing phone message against these criteria:
- Is my message spoken clearly and slightly slower than the normal rate of speech?
- Have I provided my name in the outgoing message? (Giving just a phone number can distract the listener.)
- Is my message free from background noise (dogs barking, music, and the like?)
- Is there a long, unexplained gap between the end of your outgoing message and the beep that signals recording? If there is, please redo your outgoing message to prepare the listener.
- How much time does my voice mail allow for incoming messages? If the time is short, please ask your callers to leave “…a brief message.” If your system allows a generous amount of time, encourage people to leave “…a detailed message.”
Special note: Do you have a privacy manager that automatically screens your calls? Be certain that you program the machine to recognize the name of the companies or people with whom you interview. When an employer calls, he or she will have little patience with being (inadvertently) cut off.
One last tip: please tell your friends and family about the changes you’ve made to your outgoing messages. You wouldn’t want them to misinterpret the more business-like message they hear when they call.
Posted by Don Orlando
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