5 Don'ts of applying by telephone.

Don’t phone until you are prepared – You wouldn’t go to an interview unless you were well prepared and smartly dressed would you? So why would you pick up the phone and make a call before you had thought out what you are going to say? If there’s a number at the bottom of a job advert it means the person doing the recruitment is going to screen prospective candidates on the telephone. If you don’t make a good impression they won’t ask you to send in a CV.  Don’t call until you have read the advert carefully – If you respond to an advert and you haven’t read it carefully you are going to make yourself look stupid. The person you are calling will have a number of specific criteria that you have to satisfy before you get anywhere near being asked to send in a CV and invariably these are set out in the advert. If it says you need five years experience don’t waste your time calling and arguing the point if you only have three.  Don’t call if you can’t talk freely – The call could turn into a mini interview so you need time and privacy when you call. If you work in a big open plan office with lots of noise and possible interruptions, then find somewhere else to call from. Likewise try and avoid using a telephone at a noisy public place like a bus station where the noise levels make it impossible to hear what anyone is saying.  Don’t be economical with the truth – In the screening process the person will want to ensure you have all the right qualifications and experience before they invest time in talking to you in more detail about the role. There is nothing more frustrating than for them to ask you to send in a CV only to find out you have mislead them about something and nothing is more guaranteed to ruin your chances with that person in the future.  Don’t call without having something to write on (and with) – If the person you call likes what you have to offer they will ask you to send in a CV or come for a meeting. All the hard work you have done with creating a great first impression will be undone if you start scrabbling for a piece of paper and end up sounding in a panic while you run around desperately looking for a pencil.