Don’t Forget the Phone

In today’s social networking world it is great to make contacts, build new relationships and gain different perspectives from a diverse area.  Twitter is fantastic for this (find me @kufarms).  Messages, messaging, IM, cell phone applications and email all dominate the work place but don’t forget the phone.

 

Whether you are conducting a job search or looking for candidates for your jobs, don’t rely on the other mediums to convey your message.  Nothing beats speaking to someone about a position and having a discussion.

 

If you make a call for a position, either searching for a candidate or are calling for a specific position, be sensitive to the other person’s time.  You may have caught them in a meeting, at work in a tight space, or otherwise not able to speak.  Give a brief intro and ask for their time now or make an appointment for a later time.  This will often lead to the most successful path.

 

If you are a passive candidate, do the same and take the call (now or later) for only a few minutes.  One of three results may happen: (1) you are interested in the opportunity or (2) you know someone that you may direct to this opportunity or (3) you are not interested and don’t know anyone but made a contact for the future and for networking.

 

I like a method I learned from Shally Steckerl (http://jobmachine.net/shally/) during an online seminar a few years ago and that is the email, call, email method.  Day 1 = email, day 2 = call and day 3 = email follow up.  This is a good approach but I have revised this to the call, email, call method which sometimes works a bit better.  Ultimately, if you are able to know your potential audience and have all contact information then you are able to use either method.

 

Use all of the tools available to you just don’t forget the phone.