Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Is This The Party To Whom I Am Speaking?
If anyone remembers Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Lily Tomlin's character said these words as she played an old-fashioned switchboard operator. We used to howl as this pre-cursor of Saturday Night Live made such jokes. Today I'm no longer laughing.
If your voice mail offers nothing more than that digital lady indicating nothing more than the number called, you may lose a job interview or even worse, an offer. If your voice mail features your adorable 5-year old giggling how Mommy and Daddy can't come to the phone or you indicate that Jon, Mary, Trixie, Pixie and Dixie can't come to the phone, and you are job searching, you will be deemed as having bad judgment.
Prepare a professional message with your voice indicating that the call is very important and that all calls will be returned within 24 hours. You work too hard to allow silliness to ruin the deal!
Make sure your email address is professional. It took me a long time to convince the Vice President of a publishing company that Boxer XXX was not a wise email address. Also make sure your email signature contains your email address and phone number. There are actually some great professionals that don't even sign their emails. Not good, no matter who you are.
You needn't bother to buy a beautiful suit to wear to your interview if your email and voice mail messages are unprofessional. Sadly, you won't have the opportunity to wear it!
If your voice mail offers nothing more than that digital lady indicating nothing more than the number called, you may lose a job interview or even worse, an offer. If your voice mail features your adorable 5-year old giggling how Mommy and Daddy can't come to the phone or you indicate that Jon, Mary, Trixie, Pixie and Dixie can't come to the phone, and you are job searching, you will be deemed as having bad judgment.
Prepare a professional message with your voice indicating that the call is very important and that all calls will be returned within 24 hours. You work too hard to allow silliness to ruin the deal!
Make sure your email address is professional. It took me a long time to convince the Vice President of a publishing company that Boxer XXX was not a wise email address. Also make sure your email signature contains your email address and phone number. There are actually some great professionals that don't even sign their emails. Not good, no matter who you are.
You needn't bother to buy a beautiful suit to wear to your interview if your email and voice mail messages are unprofessional. Sadly, you won't have the opportunity to wear it!
