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Looking for a new job? The phone helps!
27. September 2019 Published by Raphael DoerrIs telephoning going out of fashion? According to the German Federal Network Agency, more than 17 billion hours of calls were made in 2010, while the figure for 2018 was almost 25 percent lower. Yet you should consciously reach for the phone when looking for a new job: An over-the-phone interview with the specialist or HR department is the favorite among German companies in their selection process – right behind a meeting in person. And the phone is the right means of communication even before the applicant selection process.
The job ad sounds exciting, but you still have a few questions. Does the job suit me? There’s also a phone number you can contact if you have queries. But many applicants can’t bring themselves to make a short call: They don’t want to cause a disturbance or appear pushy. Yet a simple phone call offers quite a few advantages: You can contact decision-makers personally – without having to travel to see them. You can ask questions directly or respond spontaneously to inquiries directed to you. This initial contact gives the company and applicants the chance to get to know each other and the latter to gain an impression of the job being advertised. And a call can not only sharply reduce the path to obtaining a personal interview, but is perhaps even vital to achieving that goal.
Save time with a phone call
50 percent of all applicants say they need one to three hours to complete an application – and 21 percent need even longer. But they could have saved that time in many cases when it turns out that the job wasn’t as interesting as it looked in the advertisement.
You soon get a feel for the company on the phone: What’s the atmosphere like there? Are the employees open and friendly? If that first impression isn’t good, a short phone call has cut out a lot of unnecessary work.
Professional initial contact
You shouldn’t hold such important calls simply in passing. A calm atmosphere helps you concentrate, convey a good impression and ask the right questions. And good voice quality is also important: Patchy mobile connections, interference or background noise would make your attention wander from the core issue to minor matters. That’s why many people rely on the total stability of the landline network. Gigaset’s cordless phones boast outstanding voice quality thanks to the DECT standard and HD voice – and give you freedom of movement up to a range of 50 meters indoors and 300 meters outside.
Smart acoustics
Excellent acoustics are guaranteed by the Gigaset S850, for example. Three audio profiles allow the acoustics for the conversation to be adapted to the environment quickly and easily. The practical control button on the side of the handset means the volume can be adjusted at any time. The handsfree function in full-duplex quality is also useful in job interviews: You can hear and speak simultaneously, resulting in a more natural flow to the conversation.
Handsfree calls
“Alexa, call Ms. Mayer.” The Gigaset smart speaker L800HX sets up phone calls in response to a voice command. The powerful loudspeaker and wide-band voice transmission make it sound as if the caller is in the same room. The advantage: You don’t need to hold a phone during the interview and your hands are free to take notes. The smart speaker is the first voice-controlled handsfree DECT phone to win the Plus X Award for the Best Product of 2019. Incidentally, you can also dictate phone numbers with the L800HX.
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