How to avoid embarrassing recruiting calls at work
It amazes me how many times while calling a perspective job candidate, that I call someone in the middle of a meeting, or inappropriate time at work.
You would think in this world of technology that can make an unmanned space vehicle go to Mars a sheep genetically grown from a test tube and Joan Rivers still looks the age of 50 when he is actually 110, that they could create a way for job searchers to have their phone calls go somewhere else beside their cell phones.
Now with gmail, hotmail, yahoo mail and other free email services, people have handled the problem of receiving email at work from headhunters and companies. In addition, with so many people today only having a cell number, how can one receive those inappropriate calls at work?
Well, believe it or not there are actually several solutions–
Tossable Digits is a virtual number, meaning you can use it for a while and when you no longer need it, as if after finding a job, you just toss it away. Some of the features include.
-Do Not Disturb:
Control when callers can reach you!
You decide when you want to receive calls by restricting the times that your calls are forwarded to you. If a call comes in after hours, your caller can leave a message on your voicemail.
-Advanced Voicemail:
Listen to messages via phone, web or email!
If you’ve activated voicemail on an Extension or Virtual Number, and a call is received during a time you have restricted, callers will be asked to leave a voicemail, which you can later retrieve via their website, phone or email as an MP3 attachment.
-Call Screening:
Hear who is calling before you answer!
Tossibile Digits’ advanced call screening system asks callers to identify themselves by recording their name. When a call is forwarded to you, you’ll hear your callers recorded name and can choose to accept or decline the call. If you decline a call, your caller will be forwarded to voicemail without knowing their call was declined.
Now, I have not personally used this service but a friend has and loves it. It is not free, but not too expensive, running about $5.00 a month. If it saves you from getting busted by your current employer because of you’re talking to potential new employers, it is worth it.
Now with a little bit of “googling” you can find other similar products, but with slightly different features. Google Voice and 3jam.com are among others, all of which approximate the cost of a ring tone or two per month and are well worth it.
My favorite and the one I use all the time is Magic Jack. For a one-time fee of $40.00 you have a VOIP line that you can call at no cost, anywhere in the US. You have voice mail, music on hold, can pick your area code, and check your messages online from a received email. It is a killer. In addition, to renew each year the cost is only $19.95. I have used it for several years and love it.
The point is this — don’t get your “butt in a sling” at work while driving in your car and answering your speaker phone. Just because the number is in your area code, and you think it is someone you know, it could very well be a recruiter calling about a job you’re not even interested in. In fact, he may be calling you because you forgot to take your resume off Monster three months ago, when you got a new job.
I know about this from experience. I have been that recruiter and it was ugly, real ugly.
Carl Schumacher – Career Coach, Executive & Technical Recruiter
http://www.executive-careercoaching.com
