Tips to Prevent Missed Job Opportunities

Reneé Zung Career Advice, Job Search

Recruiters and potential hiring managers need to reach you either by phone or email.  Do you have a dedicated email for your job search set up?  Do you have your phone set up with a professional message?  Job searching is data overload and it is difficult to navigate through all the noise. Very quickly the inbox of your email will become unmanageable and you may avoid opening up your email because you are overwhelmed.  Your phone may be ringing off the hook with more spam calls than normal so you just don’t answer, don’t set up voicemail, or don’t clean up and delete all those spam messages.  All of these actions can negatively impact your chances of landing a job.

Imagine this scenario: you spent countless hours creating your marketing material, resume, and LinkedIn profile, and tailor that resume for your dream job; however, you have not created a personalized message on your cell phone and you never check your email spam folder. You might be missing the call from the recruiter and/or hiring manager.

Unfortunately, recruiters and/or hiring managers will only reach out to you once.  Too often highly qualified candidates never have the opportunity to interview even after submitting an error free resume because the recruiter and/or hiring manager can’t leave a voice message, or the voicemail message is unprofessional, or their email goes unanswered. You can’t be hired if you can’t be reached.

Remember to check your spam/junk folder regularly in case that email for an interview has been routed to that folder instead of your inbox. It is also important that your voicemail is set up properly.  Don’t miss out on your dream job because the hiring manager received any of these messages:

  • “We’re sorry, the voicemail box you are trying to reach is full. Please try again later.”
  • “We’re sorry. The person you are trying to reach has not yet set up their voicemail system. Please try again later.”
  • An unprofessional voicemail message.
  • No name on your voicemail just your number.

Take a few minutes and set up your voicemail.  You can never go wrong with a simple message such as “Hi, you’ve reached [NAME]. I’m sorry I missed your call, but if you please leave your name, number and a brief message I will get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you.”

If you are uncomfortable using your personal cell phone there is a free solution for you.  Google has a free phone service called Google Voice. All you need is a Gmail account.  If you don’t have a Gmail account you can create one for free in a few minutes.

The advantage of having a Google Voice number as a job seeker is that you now have a phone number with the correct area code that is dedicated only to job search inquiries. What are the benefits of Google Voice? You can set up your computer to receive notifications, you can personalize your greetings, and you can screen calls before answering. In a few short steps you are ready with your unique job search number. Learn more here.

Another suggestion to help you manage your inbox is to create an email just for job seeking.  A Gmail account is highly recommended for several reasons. One, it is more professional than Hotmail or AOL and most importantly the calendar integrates with most calendars making it easier for you to not miss important interviews.  Gmail allows you to recall a message, create canned responses, label messages and many other useful tricks.  Check out these top 10 useful tips and tricks to managing your Gmail account.

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