We're continuing a Capitalist tradition today - Rating Candidate Voice Mails...
Here's how it works - I've been known to be hard on voice mail. If I am calling a candidate off a resume and get voice mail, I treat it like a freebie. Good energy and kind of dynamic sounding in your voice mail greeting? Cool, I'm more interested than I was when I called. Sound depressed and seem like the whole thing takes too much energy? I'm out - you lost the opportunity. I rate your voice mail - if you are rated 5 or worse, you'll never hear from KD again..
Today's contestant - George Costanza from Seinfeld.... Take a listen and take notes... We're doing a quiz after the clip...
What's your call? Do you 1) Leave a message and encourage George to call you back to set up a phone interview, 2) Leave a message and tell him you want him to set up a time for him to come in (meaning you've skipped the phone screen, so you're obviously impressed with GC's greeting), or 3) Hang up with no message - he's dead to you...
My call? I like the creativity of the voice mail greeting, if I am trying to fill the following positions:
--Graphic Designer
--VP of Marketing
--VP of Operations, Vandelay Industries
--Creative Director, Big Ad Agency
Anything other than that, he's dead to me as a candidate. PS - Don't you hate it when you know the candidate is sitting there listening to your message, and they call you back 10 minutes later?
Shout out to MW at The Career Revolution, alerting me to the availability of the clip....
Once when I was young and fairly dumb, my roommate and I recorded our December answering machine message to the tune of Joy to the World.
We got one woman who apologized for leaving a message. "Hi, this is actually a wrong number, but I enjoyed your message so much that I called back and had my husband listen as well."
Ha!
Posted by: Evil HR Lady | October 06, 2007 at 05:21 PM
I once called a candidate (for a customer service position) whose voicemail message was "leave a message b*&#$!" No kidding. Needless to say, this b@#%& didn't. Next!
Posted by: HR Wench | October 06, 2007 at 06:14 PM
I don't care what position would be -- I would definitely leave a message! I love that type of creativity! (Of course, the visual to the sound helps a lot...)
Posted by: Red Jello | October 07, 2007 at 07:48 PM
On a related telecommunications front and not to be confused with ringtones (which I equally despise), is it just me or are these people that have songs in lieu of the good ole' standard ring completely oblivious? There you are, calling a candidate that has either applied to one of your positions or that you have diligently sourced using boolean strings the length of those worm things from "Tremors" (ah Kevin Bacon, there you are again) and then you hear it...Crunk. Sorry, next.
Posted by: Bill Sloan | February 28, 2008 at 03:52 PM