You’re in the car driving to another job interview, and an unknown number calls you – what do you do? If you’re like most of us, you let it go to voicemail. Then you listen to your messages. Right?
What happens when you listen to your messages and hear a recruiter telling you to please call him back about a potential job interview? You die just a little inside, then panic sets in, and then you pull across four lanes of rush hour traffic so you can call him back. WAIT, when you miss a recruiters phone call, do this instead:
Take a few minutes to catch your breath
You’re probably screaming inside your head, “Are you nuts? Why wouldn’t I call him back right away?”
Yes, we know there is an interview and possibly a job offer on the line. And, we also know that you shouldn’t wait too long to return his call, but think about how your mind would be racing with hundreds of thoughts about missing this very important phone call.
Job recruiters have told us that it always catches them off-guard when a candidate calls them back in a complete panic. It just makes the conversation more complicated than necessary and they spend most of the phone call trying to reassure the candidate that everything is going to be alright.
So, before you return the call completely out of breath, and making no sense, take a five-minute breather. The recruiter isn’t going to change what he wanted to talk to you about just because you didn’t pick up the phone on their first call. Just take a beat before dialing him back.
Remember it’s okay if you get sent to voicemail
Now it’s time to play the proverbial game of phone tag! Don’t panic if you get sent to voicemail when you return his call. This happens all the time, and most recruiters (at least the reasonable ones) understand the game of phone tag and that it happens often.
We’re only human, so our initial reaction is to stop doing everything and wait to hear back from them, but why risk missing a call again because you got caught up in something else? Once you leave your message, don’t just sit there staring at your phone waiting for it to ring. You’re still looking for a job, right? So, get back to work looking for a job while you sit and wait for a callback.
Be productive if you’re not in the mood to job search
Silence can be so distracting when you’re waiting for a recruiter to call you back. The anticipation can be so great that it’s hard to find the motivation to keep looking for a job. After all, you’ve put in a lot of long days job searching. It’s okay to give yourself permission to do something else.
Is there a book about a career interest you’ve been ignoring for months? Pick it up and spend a little time reading, it will help pass the time and you just might learn something beneficial. Maybe you have a hobby that you just haven’t had time for lately. Even though it seems like there are plenty of things you should be doing, take some time to do something for yourself. You will be surprised how productive you become.
When there’s a job offer on the line, nobody likes waiting to hear back and it only gets more painful when you play the phone tag game with someone who holds your future in their hands. Remember something, you will eventually connect, so don’t torture yourself by sitting there hour after hour staring at your phone, willing it to ring.