RELEVANCE, RELEVANCE, RELEVANCE and your teeny, tiny window of opportunity!!...By Darren Saul

Lately, more so than ever before, something has struck me. I receive hundreds of phone calls a week mainly from candidates applying to my roles (if they were from clients I would be writing this article from my yacht on Lake Como) and there seems to be a very common pattern which I feel is in URGENT need of addressing.

Let’s take a step back for just a second.

I am writing this article from the perspective of the Job Seeker/Recruiter phone interaction however one could definitely adapt it to just about any situation that requires 2 or more people to communicate for a particular reason ie. everyday work or life.

Nowadays we are all (recruiters as well) extremely message-rich and time-poor. We have more than our share of information (both requested and unsolicited) and thus if there is anything that we must think about during an interaction of any sort it would have to be RELEVANCE ie. please get straight to the point and stop rambling or you’ll lose me forever!

And that might be a terrible waste for both of us because you probably are a person of value - you just haven’t ENGAGED me enough initially for me to realise it and the window of opportunity has shut…probably for good because I have now perceived you inaccurately and have thus neatly placed you in the same box as all the others labeled “put off to a later date and maybe even after that!”

Now of course I am probably being a little harsh here but I do so to make a point.

SO WHAT IS THE POINT?

When candidates have a recruiter’s ear on the other end of the phone they MUST keep it simple and relevant to the role at hand (“KISS”).

I speak to dozens of candidates every day and I ask most of them to please give me a quick and relevant snapshot of their background – I usually receive the exact opposite!

MAJOR REASON: Lack of preparation ie. lack of forethought about what they actually want to achieve as a result of the call.

CONSEQUENCE: Rambling and a poor chance of progressing to the next stage!

RESULT: Frustrated candidate and frustrated recruiter.

Here’s what you can do to avoid this:

1. Think about the desired outcome of the call before you make it
2. Ask for permission to have a brief chat – VERY POWERFUL!!
3. Prepare a 30 sec. personal commercial that gives the recruiter a snapshot of who you are, what your specialty is and thus demonstrate how well you fit the role
4. Practice executing it! – keep in mind your voice tone and body language (which can be detected on the phone eg. a smile)
5. Use intelligent questioning to engage the recruiter and qualify the opportunity rather than rambling…(prepare the q’s)
6. When the opportunity arises (and it will) then elaborate and SELL!
7. Remember to “KISS” and you will achieve much more

NOTE: Always do the above BEFORE sending in your resume!!

And you wonder why recruiters never answer or call back...