Your resume & cover letter could each be exciting, persuasive, and filled with specific achievements that grab the reader from start to finish, but if the person reading them can’t reach you, then what’s the point of even sending these documents?
This is what I stressed in part one of this article, sharing with you a tragic story of a great candidate for employment who’s contact information was incorrect, making her totally unreachable. You may be wondering, well shouldn't they have tried contacting her by mail? Sure, we could have. But placing incorrect contact information on her own resume was a blatant error, and a huge mark against her. If she couldn’t even submit a clean, organized resume for us to look over, with her correct phone number, then what other errors would she continue to make if she were hired?
What I have here in part 2 are a couple of extra tips in addition to making sure your contact information is absolutely error-free:
Voice mail sucks—it’s best to give a phone number that you can be easily reached at. A number without voice mail interference is the best because it's the most direct. Some employers may take the time to leave a message, but then there are those that won’t, no matter how interested in you they might have been. Your cell phone number is probably your best bet, since your cell phone is something you can carry with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And be sure to set your ringer for the loudest setting, so you'll be able to hear your phone at all times.
No work numbers—place your home and/or cell phone number on your resume & cover letter. Never, EVER place your current work number in your contact information. Can you imagine getting calls for interviews at your current job, because you're trying your best to leave their company? It’s tacky, unprofessional, and it makes you look bad, to both your current and potential employers.
So there you have it, a couple of extra contact information bloopers to avoid.
Take care, and here’s to upcoming great results with your job search!
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