Another Ask A Manager: Job applicants whose voicemail doesn’t work

[purlewe]

The question yesterday about people not wanting to leave voicemail got me thinking about a recent situation.

My organization recently hired a couple of people. One role was a more specialized position, and one was entry-level. In the hiring process, I made contacts to set up the interviews. In multiple instances, I ran into people’s voicemails that were not yet set up or where inboxes were full. I was really hoping to actually talk to the candidates, just to make the scheduling easier than it can be when exchanging multiple emails back and forth. And in some instances, email wasn’t as good an option, given the platform they used to apply.

I did end up sending a couple of emails / LinkedIn messages with a couple of the candidates for the more specialized role, as we had a smaller pool of candidates from which to draw. But there was a part of me that was a little miffed that someone who is actively looking for a job doesn’t try harder to make themselves available.

How far should we go to try to get in contact with candidates who have applied for jobs with us? I’m curious about the best way to approach these situations. Is it appropriate for a potential employer to text? I don’t have a “work” phone, so any texts would be coming from my personal cell, too.

Yeah, people are who job-searching should confirm that their voicemail is set up and not full, and they should check it regularly. While lots of people don’t use voicemail much anymore, it’s still a very normal business tool, and loads of employers still use it. When you’re applying to jobs, it makes no sense not to ensure your voicemail is a working option.

On your side: it’s reasonable to be a little irritated, but it still makes sense to switch to email in those cases, assuming it’s someone you want to reach. If a candidate is already borderline and you have plenty of other strong applicants who you can reach, that’s different — I could see not going the extra mile to reach someone who isn’t terribly competitive and hasn’t made themselves easy to reach. But otherwise, trying email is the way to go.

I would only text as a last resort. It doesn’t feel as unprofessional in hiring as it used to, but it’s still a less expected method of first contact about a job.

Comments

[purlewe]

Again. I just find this fascinating to see how we are using (and not using) communication and technology these days.

[purlewe]

Ex: I have a dear friend who is having a contractor issue. She sent the contractor a long text with all the issues she was having an asked for a date in which to have the project completed. He called her back. She refused the calls.

And she was ANGRY he was calling. And no, she wasn't going to check her VM.

So I finally asked: have you told him you only will respond by text? Why would she do that? She wants things fixed BUT she doesn't want to speak with him. So I gently suggested she send another text with the phrase "please only respond by text as I cannot receive calls at this time"

Instead of getting angry about it, TELL them how you want to communicate. If these potential employees do not want phone calls then DO NOT PUT PHONE NUMBERS ON THE RESUME. Give them your email. Do not expect them to know you won't take a call or listen to VM. No one reads minds anymore.

[shirou]

I am curious whether your friend gets her issues resolved! In the 10 years I have owned a home, I have learned that I need my contractors a lot more than they need me.

[purlewe]

Contractor did send someone out and they brought about 1/3-1/2 of the things they needed. Again partly bc my friend would not text or call back after she got angry. She is still working on the issues needing repair. But I think she took my note about telling them upfront that she would only respond to texts and is using it going forward.

[xenacryst]

All of the above, yes, but one other thing that's missing is how broken voice calling is these days. Because 99% of voice calls are scams, a lot of us have started using the features on our smart phones that silence unknown callers or automatically flag calls as spam. I don't answer calls unless they're from expected people - technically, my phone is set to route it directly to voicemail. Now, I do listen to those voicemails, but not instantly, usually, unless I'm expecting someone to call, and sometimes if I'm expecting someone whose number I don't know I'll remove that feature so that I do have the chance to answer. But also, for people who might be calling me whose numbers I don't know, if I can contact them beforehand, I will ask them to let me know what number they'll be calling from so I can avoid that dance.

I've also never even added a personal greeting to my iPhone, and I've had this carrier for almost a decade - I've never gotten guff about it from family, friends, or professional contacts.

So, tl/dr: as a caller, recognize that voice calling is very broken, but also as a recipient, if you're averse to voice calls try to make sure that a potential caller has a better way to contact you.

[viggorlijah]

Texting is the default here in Asia. I don’t think I have voicemail and it’s a little weird to have it as a business. My vet uses it which is annoying because I’d prefer to just be able to text them. My last job search was entirely email and texting.

[tielan]

I've noticed quite a few millenials and younger not liking phone calls much. Anxiety, I think, and self-consciousness about how they sound on the phone and getting it wrong. I have a friend who loathes phone calls. Texts only. Which, yes, I find irritating because I'd rather get it all out all at once. Luckily we don't make appointments to see each other very often anymore and we're pretty flexible about meeting.

So I understand not liking phone calls.

In hiring, though, I'd expect the interviewer to set a time for a discussion and the applicant to answer the call.

[jenett]

One thing I've hit is that when I'm working at home, if someone wants a call back, either I have to give out my personal cell number, or I have to do some juggling to set things up so I'm not giving out that number. (I do not need to make a ton of calls - right now it's about one every month or three. I dislike personal phone calls unless I'm expecting them, and always have my phone ringer set to silent unless I'm expecting a call")

The work voicemail is set up to say "Please email us at..." (which we'd rather do anyway, since our reply with info almost always includes some links and other stuff that makes more sense in email) but some people get super grumpy about it.

That said, when I've been job hunting, I change my voice mail to something appropriate, put in a comment about when I can return calls (something like "I am not usually able to take calls from X to y due to my work hours, please let me know a good time to try and reach you, or please email" and run from there. Last time I was job hunting, I was a librarian with significant front desk time (so couldn't step away for a personal call), and was also working weird hours. But those worked fine.)

[ioplokon]

Fwiw I have my voicemail set up but there have been days where I get a spam call every minute all day (the only thing you can do is just shut off your phone). This is worse when you're job hunting bc your number gets passed on to all the spammers. It's quite possible someone tried to reach me when my voicemail was full. I don't know the capacity but I know I once spent a full 20 minutes simply deleting messages.

And also, honestly? I don't take phone call job stuff that seriously if there isn't an appointment. I would prefer to only give my email when I apply, but often the phone number is a mandatory field. Personally, I find email more professional as a form of first contact bc it is easier for me to identify if the person is legit & it's generally lower pressure than the phone call, so you can reflect, research, and respond. Text is shadier than calling, though. So if the options are call or text, LW is making the right choice.