Public Service

In my capacity as a jobs line recruiter (part-time), I talk to people, lots of people. The company's client base brings me in phone contact with people across the US and Canada. While much of the work is scripted and repetitive, the range of clients, jobs offered and the applicants provide plenty of variety.

Having worked for the outfit for three years now, I feel qualified to offer some advice or tips, if you will, should you find yourself out of work, about to be out of work or just looking for something new, and you are calling a similar provider, in search of a job.

1. Call Center positions mean you will be talking on the phone. You probably should sound like you enjoy talking on the phone. Try being enthusiastic without being silly.

1a. speak clearly
1b. don't eat, chew gum or smoke--inhaling sounds awful on the other end.
1c. don't call from your car while you are on the interstate, or you know, moving.
1d. don't talk to your children, pets, parents, the counter person at Stuckey's, or current boss or co-workers, whilst on the phone with a recruiter.

2. Know who you are. A recruiter is likely to ask your name. If you don't say anything else with confidence, you should be saying your name, with supreme confidence.

3. Please don't be offended if a recruiter asks you to confirm the spelling of your name-even if it is Jon/John, Sheila/Sheilah, Shenequah/Sheneequah or Chris/Kris-we are supposed to ask, even if we think we know-especially if we think we know.

4. It might be helpful if you knew your zip / postal code.

5. It might be helpful if you knew your phone number(s) & area code(s).

6. The response to, Are you fluent in Spanish? is not, "I know some words."

7. The response to, In what state would you like to work? is not, "Salt Lake."

8. Recruiters might need to call you back; outbound messages on voice mail and ring tones probably should not include references to any part of the anatomy, the words shit, damn, fuck or any of the genre.

9. Have a pen and paper handy, you might need to take notes, record some instructions.

10. If you are asked to read something as an example of sight reading skills, you might want to avoid reading your court summons.

Bonus: You might look into getting an email address-that you will check.

Thank you for calling and Good Luck!