Job-Hunt Myths

Businessweek's Liz Ryan ran an article in March '06 called: Scuttling Some Job-Hunt Myths. Short article that's worth the read - thought I'd post one section of the article that relates to one myth in particular:

Leaving voice mail messages is the best way to stay on a hiring manager's radar screen.

Here's the rest of Liz's advice:

Voice-mail messages are a pox because they don't lend themselves to quick scanning the way email messages do -- you can only listen to them one at a time, and you have to listen to the whole thing to get the sense of the message. Make sure to get the e-mail address (i.e. the business card) of every person you interview with, and send a chipper and intelligent e-mail thank you after every interview.

Do use the phone, but keep trying until you get the person live -- just after 5
p.m. is a good time, because people stick around to get some work done and
may not fear picking up the phone at that hour. If you do leave phone messages, leave no more than one per week, or risk being branded a stalker.

More to come -

Dennis Smith
T-Mobile Recruiting