Phone etiquette: Another reason why we fail in interviews

I am not sure whether we job seekers have ever realized the exact time when interview begins! I too don’t know whether we are aware that the interview begins when our applications drop in the company’s inbox. I have come to learn this from experience. For you to know why you have never been invited to any interview from the companies you had applied for jobs, ask yourselves the following questions: Have I ever received a phone call from an unknown number? How did I respond to the phone call? Did I respond rudely, though the caller was rude to me? Has someone ever called me and immediately ended the call, then on calling back, I was not picked or someone replied “wrong number”?

There is increased competition in the job market. It has come to the time when employers want to select the best from the rest. Likewise, there is a realization that many people pretend to be saints when they face interview panels. Behavioural psychologists have argued that it is not easy to identify someone’s behaviour when he or she is conscious. These are some of the ways through which prospective employers test prospective employees.

I remember one day, during my aggressive search for jobs when I found a missed call. It was a new number. I called in the evening to find out who was this calling me at around 2 pm. The phone was busy. Two minutes later, the same number called. “Hello, who is it?” the caller asked me.

“I found your missed call; I wanted to know who you are.” I answered.

“Who are you in the first place?” he asked.

“I am Wycliffe, and you?”” I replied hastily.

“Why do you want to know me?” he asked

“Ok, where are you then?”

“Why do you want to know where I am?”

“Perhaps I can recall if there is someone who knows me in that place.”

“There is no one who knows you here!” he answered

I clicked and hang up the call.

The following day I was directed by a lady whose mother gave me her number. She was working in a tile company at Sameer Business Park. I reached there in time and welcomed to the reception. When my turn for interview came, the HR reminded that he called me and I responded rudely. In fact, I have never received a formal call from that company.

I am sure, they just did a favour to call me, at least to remind me that I should be careful in the future. In most cases, I am sure job seekers are not called again because of this behaviour. This reminds us that we job seekers should handle our phones very careful and avoid any negative replies even when we are abused by callers. An employer would be testing our patience. This is because almost all companies are dealing with businesses, and customers are sometimes rude, it is crucial for us to know how to control our emotions and responses. Likewise, we should be always alert with our phone calls to avoid any missed call.

Another major problem with phone calls is this thing call “Skiza tunes”. Most of us subscribe to Skiza tunes that we love most, and forget that we don’t hear those tunes; it is our callers who listen to them. In fact, I have two of them; I even don’t know when I subscribed to them until recently my caller told me that my tune is very melodious. I have tried to call Safaricom to help me delete these tunes, but they also make me listen their skiza tune all day long without receiving my call. The Skiza tune you subscribe can easily identify what kind of a person you are. The moment a prospective employer listens to your Skiza tune, he/she imagines who you are before meeting you in person. This can lead to a conclusion of either not calling you at all, or just call you to look at you. Therefore, before you subscribe to any Skiza tune, give it time and try to figure out whether it is something to build your name or taint it. In fact, when actively searching for jobs, it is important to avoid such small mistakes that can make you lose a life-time opportunity.

Additionally, the social media is another source of disqualification. Some employers may search you in the social sites. The kind of messages you post and the pages you have liked are the easiest indicators of your likes and dislikes. Imagine a prospective employer finding that you have liked pages like the ones I usually see in my friends’ Facebook accounts. These pages usually have hundred thousands of likes. I wonder why most people hate liking educative and socially moral pages, and develop interest in those evil pages. I don’t say they are evil as such because we have different tastes and preferences, but I mean they are not pleasing in the eyes of our seniors. Recently, I began Operation Eliminate Friends (OEF) who have liked these dirty pages. Before I accept a friend request, I must stock you first to know what kind of a person you are.

Conclusively, let handle our mobile phones carefully always by being humble to whoever who calls. We should also check our skiza tunes to ensure that they send the right message to our seniors. Finally, let us not like dirty pages in the social media that can taint our public image in the face our prospective employers.