The Importance of a First Impression, Part 2

The following is an excerpt from How Smart People Sabotage Their Job Search: 10 Mistakes Executives Make and How to Fix Them!. We've previously discussed how making yourself as attractive as possible can have a big impact on your career. This post (and the initial part 1) gives details on just how to do that.

Mistake #1: We Forget the Importance of First Impressions.

First Impressions Also Apply to How We Come Across Via Telephone and Email

With all the phone interviews that are going on these days, this is really, really important!

If you are a person with low energy, or have been known to have a depressive personality, or if you’re a person who tends to wear their emotions on their sleeve, chances are, your phone presence may indicate this. I am not trying to be harsh here. You know who you are, and I want to help you so you can modify your communication style so it works in your favor, and not against you.

I had lunch not too long ago with a friend of mine who is President of her own insurance brokerage firm. As President, she is still intimately involved with the hiring process, as it is vitally important to her business to hire people with the right skills and fit.

She was sharing a story with me about making a call to a candidate they were considering for hire. However, because she didn’t like the way he answered the phone, she immediately hung up on him! I laughed at the thought of this actually happening, and asked her if she really did, in fact, hang up on the guy. She replied, “Absolutely!” Her point was that if they are this way even once, she can’t afford to have someone with a bad attitude or low energy give a less-than-stellar image of her company on the phone to customers, or anyone else for that matter.

So, what are we talking about here? Let me give you a couple of examples. By the way, the names in these examples are fictitious.

Ring, Ring…
Joanne: “Hello?”
Caller: “Hi, is this Joanne?”
Joanne: “Yes.”
Caller: “Hi Joanne, this is John from ABC Recruiting Firm. I am calling you about a search I’m doing for a VP of Finance.”
Joanne: “Oh. Hi.”

This level of energy makes me wonder if Joanne is motivated to work, and if she is really not happy to hear from the recruiter. It makes me wonder all kinds of things about Joanne’s personality and situation. If I were Joanne, and looking for a job, I would be happy to hear from any recruiter, and I would demonstrate it in my voice and the energy level of my conversation. Taking this a step further, I would answer every call as if I was expecting it to be a potential employer or recruiter on the other end.

I will never forget the time that I returned the phone call of a gentleman who was interested in learning more about how my company could help him with his job search. The call went like this:

Ring, Ring…
Mike answers: “WHAT!” (He yells.)
Me: “Mike, (I hesitate) it’s Susan Howington.”
Mike: “WHO?” (He yells.)
Me: “Susan Howington. I’m returning your call. Have I caught you at a bad time?” (No kidding!)
Mike: “Oh!…Oh!…Susan! I am so sorry; I thought you were my wife calling me. We had a fight this morning, and I’m still reeling from it. Yes, I had some questions I wanted to ask you…”

Now, I had several thoughts about this guy when he and I began to talk:

• First, assuming he can see the caller’s phone number on his cell phone, one would think he would know if his wife is calling him or not.


• Second, if I was a hiring corporate executive, or a recruiter calling to talk to him, I would not pursue this guy as a candidate. Period. Too risky.


• Third, if I were a networking contact calling to set up a coffee meeting to discuss leads and target companies, I would think twice about using this person as a reference resource to support my candidacy in target companies where he may have contacts. Who really knows what his professional reputation is in his business circle?


• Fourth, I thought about how my friend who owns the insurance brokerage firm would have hung up on him.

If he was my client, I would have given him the feedback that when his cell phone rings, he needs to be sure to look at the number of the calling party. If the phone number isn’t recognizable, then assume it is a hiring company or recruiter calling you, and “turn on the great first impression!” Make sure your voice projects a happy, balanced, competent person.

So, be cognizant of your phone persona! Think about the image you have created in the minds of those who hear you, but cannot see you. Answer your cell phone as if you were at work. Most of us answer our calls with a professional greeting, like “Good morning, this is Susan.” Don’t let down your professional persona, not even for one phone call. Consider each call as a step taking you closer to employment.

Voicemail

Make sure your voicemail depicts your professional self as well. For example, “Hi, this is George James. I’m sorry I missed your call. Please leave a message and I will get back to you shortly.” It’s short, to the point, but pleasant. And, oh yes, a word of advice: leave your creative side out of this. I encourage you to change your voicemail if you are coming across as too casual.

For example, no “Hey’s,” “Yo’s,” or benign messages like “It’s me, leave a message.” No long music interludes making someone wait before they can leave a message. This can be a time waster, and the music selection and quality may not appeal to the caller. No singing your voicemail message in opera or any other style, unless you are really a great singer, then maybe…. Don’t try to be clever. Your teenage son and his friends come up with the clever voicemail messages—not you.

Message Machines

Most people use their cell phone as their primary phone number when in job search. But if you list your home phone number, I advise you to consider the following guidelines:

As much as I adore the sweet voices of small children, and as much as I am crazy about animals, if your message has one or both reciting a greeting, please, please make sure it is easily understood, and that it is actually really cute, not silly. If in doubt, just change your message to a simple, “This is the Smith family, sorry we can’t come to the phone right now. Please leave a message and we’ll call you back.”

After your job search is over, you can put your recording of Sparky barking to the tune of jingle bells back on your machine.

If you list your home phone number on your job search documentation, it is very important that whoever answers your phone represents you well and can take an accurate message. This is the time to train your kids on good telephone etiquette. If you have relatives in your home who are not known for taking good messages, then it’s best to create a policy to let the phone ring and have the answering machine pick it up. If 15-year-old Emily is totally bored with everyone else’s business but her own, and has a tendency to reflect this in her phone personality, then tell Emily not to answer the family phone when you aren’t there.

Have you ever called a business to ask for directions and the person who answered the phone didn’t speak English? Did you wonder why the proprietor would let someone answer the phone who couldn’t represent the business well? Simply stated, your job search is a business affair. It is best that relatives from the Old Country who don’t speak fluent English, or Grandpa, who is slightly deaf, or five-year-old Jimmy, not interact with your potential employer, recruiters or others who are contacting you about your job search.

Finally, A Note About Email…

Your email address should also be professional. [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] and other expressive email addresses like these should be changed for your job search. Remember, these addresses will be put at the top of your résumé, on your business card, and on other marketing documents in your job search. You don’t want someone making a judgment about your abilities based on your alter-ego email address. Alleviate this risk from the beginning. It is not hard to establish a new email address for your search, and you want your email address to reflect your best professional self during this time. Just use your name, or a derivative of your first and last name, for your new email address. You can always use your original one for your personal email communication.

Or perhaps you believe that email is the new method of sending “thank you’s” to prospective employers? Rethink that strategy. Never underestimate the power of a hand-written note.

Oops! How to Fix Mistake#1:

Honestly? Mistake #1 has so many ways to sabotage your job search; it’s like walking through a mine field. “You never get a second chance to make a great first impression.” However, you can certainly try. If your gut is telling you that you hit a land mine in your phone call, or miscalculated your style of interview clothing, regroup and consider re-communicating your interest in a job or networking opportunity. Having the backbone to correct and reach out again speaks volumes to potential companies. Seek professional help from a career management coach or wardrobe consultant. Course corrections are in order any time, and it’s better to make the corrections early in your job search process rather than later.

Mistake #1 Self-Assessment and Improvement Plan

Stand in front of the mirror. Seriously. Stand there and take a good, hard look from head to toe. Then answer these questions based upon what you see:

1. Are there any aspects of your personal physical image that you need to work on? Here, I’ll help you. Check all that apply:

• Hair cut and color?
• Hands?
• Teeth?
• Eyeglass frames?
• Weight?
• And for the ladies—makeup application?

2. Have you updated your wardrobe recently to make sure you are “interview-ready?”

Ladies first!

• Suits?
• Shoes?
• Handbag?
• Jewelry?
• How about the fit? Is everything tailored appropriately?

Gentlemen? How about you?

• Suits?
• Shoes?
• Belts?
• Ties?
• Fitted shirts?
• Everything tailored appropriately?

3. Do you need to update your appearance with a hair stylist, dentist, wardrobe consultant, tailor or personal trainer? Ladies, do you need to update your makeup use?

4. Ask a friend or coach to listen to your telephone persona, your voicemail and your home message machine. What image does your telephone demeanor portray? Do you come across in a professional and energetic way in your voicemail message? Does your message machine greeting support this image as well? Do you need to make changes?

5. Have you established a “professional” personal email address yet?

6. One more thing: Have you purchased some professional “thank you” note cards yet? Handwritten notes can differentiate you from the other candidates. It takes more time to do, but it creates a lasting impression with the interviewer.

Based upon your assessment, utilize the tips within this chapter to improve and polish your “First Impression.”

Comments

[Jon]

Good list. I have my own list of dealing with recruiters.

I will give you no email response and/or hang up on you for any of the following:

1.) You are calling for a position I am not even remotely qualified for. (Back in the day I used to routinely get calls for Sr. Java Manager when I only had 2 years of Java development experience.)

2.) Misspelling my name in an email when you got it directly from my resume.

3.) No name in the email, just a generic introduction.

4.) Offering me a job across the country when my posted profile specifically states the only city in which I am looking.

5.) Calling or emailing even after I have taken my resume offline. Meaning you are a cheap recruiter and only pay to download resumes every once in a while and then keep them forever.

6.) Calling late at night or right during "normal" dinner hours. You obviously didn't do enough research to see what time zone I am in.

7.) Calling during work hours when my resume specifically states what time periods are OK to call during.

8.) Acting like we are best friends.

9.) A request for referrals to your job posting will never get you a referral from me unless you are paying me. Why am I doing your job so you get paid the bonus?

[Sarah]

I hate unsolicited recruiter calls. And they are relentless. Its like dealing with telemarketers.

I also disagree on the email vs. hand-written note for thank yous. If an interview has already happened, I think you need to have something back in front of them right away as a reminder as to why you are good for the job. If you wait for a hand written note to arrive, then they will have already chosen their candidate before your note even gets there. By the time we actually have someone in for an interview we have already decided they look good on paper, and we will know if we are interested the day of the interview.