To think managers DO like you to ring and enquire about a job vacancy

[cressindrra]

If there is a job advert and it specifically includes a contact number to contact the hiring manager to find out more information about the job. I always ring to ask about the job. it always ends up in the manager asking about my experience and almost having a mini interview where I get the opportunity to sell myself.After ringing to enquire about a job for which I am well qualified I have yet to not be given an interview. I know this may simply be coincidence and I might have got an interview anyway but I do think calling up makes you more familiar to the hiring manager and shows interest in the position. it gives you a chance to sell yourself a little. also, if they do include the contact details in the job advert they obviously are happy for people to contact them.

My friend thinks I waste my time calling hiring managers and it makes no difference at all. I should just apply online.

So, hiring managers. Who is right?

I'm not a hiring manager but it wouldn't make any difference at all where I work as all the application form are assessed anonymously by a panel, including someone who is independent from the organisation.

It completely varies by employer and position.

obviously in that scenario treacle it wouldnt. But im talking about situations where the hiring manager is the one selecting who gets interviewed and chooses who to employ.

in our area of work this is always the case and interviews are not scored. It's instead a very broad 'merit' decision which is uoto the interview panel. You would normally be interviewed by two people but the hiring manager woukd have finak say. Which is why in our line of work I think it helps to phone up!

I agree with you, as long as you've got some pertinent, intelligent questions to ask and it can't be construed as wasting the hiring person's time (in particular, asking questions that can easily be answered by information within the job description or company website etc.). I think it shows good communication skills, especially when people are increasingly shying away from phone contact in favour of email communication. In a strictly scheduled, points based interview system it might not gain you anything on paper, but it would certainly get you noticed and start the process off in a positive way.
It's worked for me both when applying for a position and when hiring. And I've also had parents call to ask questions on behalf of their children who were applying for positions - this had completely the opposite effect!!

You seem to be talking very specifically about your line of work.

If you actually have genuine questions then yes. If you're ringing up to ask something that's already in the job description, it's not going to do you any favours.

Often recruiters have no choice but to include a contact number.

I'll be honest, it annoys me, truly, if I say on the advert "please send cover letter and CV" it doesn't mean call me. Plus I feel it's unfair to other candidates who apply as they should, and I like to give everyone an equal shot so tbh even when someone does call me I say the first step is to apply so I can consider their application along with everyone else, but id be happy to email back to confirm receipt of their application.

Generally, for the industry im in and how I word the adverts, if someone calls in, they aren't right and are just trying to convince me why I should still consider them even though they don't fit the criteria. Appreciate it differs though.

Maybe for a sales position, but otherwise I have better things to do than shoot the breeze with you. If you have a legitimate question that wasn't covered in the job description, fair enough.

I find it so hard to recruit decent nurses that if you called me about a vacancy and you sounded good then I would be over the moon

God no. I only ever get calls asking things that are in the jd or advert already. Normally when I'm trying to write a report or cover leave.

If you're not going to rock my world please don't bother with the call. I'll remember you for all the wrong reasons.

As someone who fields these calls quite often, sorry but I find them annoying. We have a process for reviewing applications and people calling in really doesn’t make an ounce of difference. I don’t mind so much if people are just querying something specific such as hours or salary, but a lot of the time people are just trying to give you their spiel in the hopes it gets them the job. It never does in my experience.

Unless you have a relevant question that can't be answered by looking at the job spec or website, I would just find it an annoying waste of time, sorry.

I'd really rather you didn't unless you have a very specific question. I have enough to do without answering the phone to people who just want to sell themselves - that's what your application form/CV/covering letter are for. But then I work for a pretty small department and we don't recruit very often so recruiting is extra to my full-time job. It may be different if the person you are calling is working in an HR or recruitment role.

When we advertise jobs, we usually ask those who are interested to contact us for a full job description. Somewhat surprisingly, people do apply us without doing so. They rarely get interviewed...

I like it when someone rings - it shows they have a bit of 'get up and go' and that they care enough to find out more about the role. I work in an industry where we don't get 100s of applications per advert, more like 10, so my view would no doubt change if there was a risk i would be inundated with calls. Agree that there needs to be a reason to call, but it isn't too challenging to think of something intelligent to ask.

I think it depends on the type of job and the level that you are at. I would say that the more senior the role, the more appropriate it is to call.

Being annoyed about people calling when you've given your number to call if they want further information is pretty unreasonable.

But sometimes you have no choice but to include a number, depends on where you're advertising.

I have hired lots of people and made no difference to me. But I would much prefer people rang than ask basic questions at the interview that show they do not actually understand the job. That is frustrating.

If you’re never getting interviews for jobs your qualified for after calling I suspect that there is probably something wrong with the way you are doing this.

People don’t mind callers who ring to ask specific questions, like what are the hours or is it available for jobshare. In the main, somebody who calls them up in the middle of the working day and won’t get off the phone because they want to tell them all the reasons why they should hire them is probably going to piss them off.

It’s incredibly time consuming having your number on those ads. You get no end of calls from agencies and unqualified people ticking boxes for the job centre calling. When someone is already under extra pressure an unnecessary call can be a pain in the butt.

Plus if you’re not picking up on signals they want to end the call they might think you are a poor communicator. And if they think you should have gone through the normal process rather than pushing yourself into an unsolicited phone interview they might think that you are not aware of appropriate business boundaries. Neither of those things would be good for you.

Neither as a recruiter or applicant have I seen an ad including hiring managers information to have a chat, personally I wouldn’t particularly appreciate it and would only interview those with impressive CVs regardless. Phoning to show interest actually makes me think of a particular type of applicant who spends a lot of time reading LinkedIn advice.

That said, it’s always appreciated for internal job adverts and I’m surprised more people don’t do it

It varies. Its worked best for me when someone who is thinking of applying from out of sector rings and asks well informed questions that show they're really trying to calibrate their experience/terminology to the job spec, or when someone has a particular approach to a project/agenda and is ringing to calibrate whether that approach is relevant/supported. It has a negative impact when someone is obviously calling just to get their name across, or even worse where they seem to think they can give me a mini interview to confirm whether it's worth their while to apply. Or to ask for a load of confidential information to be compiled and sent to them so they can prepare for the interview. Or to just say 'can you tell me about the job' when I've spent ages writing the job description and information which they already have.....

I'm always happy to chat to prospective employees about the role, provided they remember I'm not the careers service.

It makes absolutely no direct difference to how a person's application is scored (no matter how well you sold yourself on the phone I can only score what is there on the form) but I suppose talking to me might help a candidate fill out their application better.

so what if you have the initiative to call up? good for you for thinking of it. if others don't it's their problem. it's so hard to find work these days. I'd rather be off on holiday somewhere than in the snow thinkning about work

I think they don't mind people calling up if it helps filter out applicants who blindly apply without finding out the salary/hours or other specifics about the job.

Similarly, allowing people the opportunity to call for an informal chat might encourage more quality applicants as they've had the chance to discuss the role in full and have more confidence in applying.

If it's just people calling up and asking stupid questions they could have seen the answers to in the advert then no that's not good but you'd like to hope the manager would be taking a note of the names to mark an X against when their application does come in.