In the millennial generation, talking on the phone is not a skill that comes easily to us. We are constantly communicating through means of written communication such as texting, and emailing. When entering the workforce, especially in the field of recruiting it is important to break away from written communication, and learn how to pick up the phone and talk to someone. Picking up the phone and talking to someone directly is often times a much easier way to communicate as, it is quicker than an email or text message, and it reduces the chance of your message being misconstrued. Building relationships via the phone is critical to success in both recruiting as well as business.
Talking on the phone to professionals is not something that is easy to do. It will take a lot of skill and practice to perfect. The first time my boss asked me to call someone, rather than emailing them I went through in my head about 100 times what I was going to say before I picked up the phone. A certain phone etiquette must be followed if you want a business professional to take you seriously. These five tips will ensure that your message comes through loud and clear.
1. Make sure you speak clearly and use a tone of voice that will appeal to the person.
If you are the type of person that has a sing-songy tone of voice especially when talking on the phone, try to leave that behind. A high pitch tone could give the perception that you are young, and often times inexperienced. Try to be very direct in your tone of voice, and to annunciate your words so that they can hear you clearly.
2. Do not interrupt the person you are talking to.
I know that often times this does not happen on purpose, but as you are talking to a business professional be sure to hear them out. It is important that they get their point across and do not feel as if you are disregarding what they are trying to say. I know you probably have a list of questions especially if you are a recruiter; however, interruptions interrupt the consistent flow of communication
3. Be mindful of their day.
Business professionals are typically very busy people. Make sure you are not catching them in the middle of a meeting, or as they are about to run into one. You also need to be sure that you do not keep them on the phone for too long, and try to get your point across quickly. At the end of the call be sure to thank them for their time.
4. Use oral cues.
Since this is not a face-to-face communication, it is important to show that you are actively listening. You can easily do this by using oral cues such as “mhmm”, or “yes” now and then to show that you understand what they are saying, and you are listening to them.
5. Be prepared to answer questions.
Before calling make sure to think of potential questions a professional may ask you. If you do not know the answer to a simple question, it will come off unprofessional. Also, be sure to have someone to direct questions to if you do not have an answer right away.
Now that you know these tips, you are better equipped to speak to business professionals. It is important to remember that you will feel nervous at first, and it definitely takes some getting used to. Do not be afraid to push yourself out of your comfort zone, because over time it will become more natural, and something you will not even have to think twice about. Give it a shot, you will be amazed by the conversations you can have and the people you will meet.
Kassi LoPresti
Bryant University Class of 2018
year of college and beginning to enter the job market I often find myself asking, what would dad do? My Father is a very successful Managing Director at Barnum Financial Group. Over the past couple of years, I have had the good fortune of interning in the same financial firm as him, and I have come to realize, that I never really knew what he did at all. I always knew he was successful because my family has been very fortunate, but I do not think I really understood until now what it means to be successful.
butt off for his colleagues, and for his family. If you need to stay late at work to finish a project, do not leave at 5:00, or if you need to go in early because your boss needs you, just do it. Watching my dad follow this work ethic each day, has inspired me to work as hard as I can.
Try to help people in every way you can, whether it be devoting my time, or donating money. Being generous can help to better your community, and that can really make an impact on your life.
ing the world around you. You are taking in a breath of fresh air and the sounds of the children laughing nearby; nothing can grab your attention away right now. Then, you hear a sort of buzzing noise, you slide your hand into your pocket and reach for your phone and your attention to the world around you quickly turns off. You are now in a world of your own in this small device that seems to control what you think, how you think, and when you think it. This device takes all the attention off the pavement you’re walking on and the ball you’re supposed to be catching and makes you unaware of the environment around you. This might be okay if you are in a social situation, but it is not acceptable in a professional environment.
Overall, we are taking too much time away from more important things like conversing with new faces and catching up with family members. We are spending more time looking into the face of our phone than to the face of our aging parents and grandparents. We are missing the world around us while trying not to miss all the drama happening on our favorite social networking website. We need to stop bringing out the phone, especially in professional environments. We need to turn the phone off, leave it in the car, direct the calls to voicemail, or tell people the time slot in which you are unavailable. We need to look up and look around at the world and soak up everything we see. 
e index cards for presentations because I’m so used to being on stage where I can’t be looking down at my script for the words while also trying to hand jive. If you use index cards while presenting you will often catch yourself looking down at them for every other word instead of relying on your knowledge that you have obtained by researching and studying the material you are presenting on. Preparing for a presentation and relying on your knowledge will help you even after you finish that group presentation for Economics that you put together with “Google Slides.” Preparation helps relieve stress later on because it eliminates the worry of not knowing what you need to do or say. This will help you relax so you can but your best foot forward instead of spending time trying to come up with an answer in order to make yourself sound intelligent while taking an unnecessarily long amount of time.
afraid to put themselves out there. They’re shy, anxious, and afraid to step out of their comfort zone. Performing kicks you out of that comfort zone and locks the door. Just in the past few years I’ve portrayed: a twenty-something year old guy trying to find love online, an Italian, smartass high school student from 50’s, a raunchy old grandfather, a man selling bagels on the streets of Anatevka, and a poor man who lives on the streets of Paris during the French Revolution. Every show I’ve been in is so different from the last which helps me progress as an actor as well as build as a person. Making a phone call or walking up to a recruiter at a career fair is a lot easier when you’ve performed in front of a sold out auditorium.
he CD generation and the start of the iPhone and Smartphone generation and everything around us was quickly changing and adapting to our technology-obsessed world. One thing that never changed for us for as long as I can remember is the whole concept of going to college after high school. In kindergarten, I knew I had to go to school until I graduated high school; and since I wanted to become a teacher, I had to further my education after that. Going away to a four year college was always in my plan and my friends’ plans as well.
would affect how you were viewed in school. Now, as I make my way through college at Bryant University and get ready to make it out in the business world, I find that first impressions have become immensely more important. Whether it is new professors, networking events and career fairs or interviews, a first impression can go a long way. The phenomenon of a first impression and the factors involved are so interesting in how they can manipulate someone’s outlook on you. Even more intriguing is how one person’s view from a first impression of you could be entirely different from someone else’s first impression of you. Making a good first impression on someone not only has profound benefits on your personal life, but is also beneficial in building your career.
the time they are meeting you. First impressions are quickly formed and long lasting, the longer amount of time for the first impression, the more confident and stable the impression will be. An interviewer can have made their mind up within two seconds of seeing someone as to whether or not they want to hire them, possibly excelling their career forward or becoming another road block in the way. What first impressions come down to can be instinctual and alter our outlook on people instantaneously and that is what makes them so important. What is so interesting about these situations is that they are highly dependent on the various factors that could skew the accuracy of the impression. Some factors include age, gender, physical appearance, posture, voice, number of people present, and time allowed to process. These factors are deemed especially important within the business world especially when trying to find a job.
organization and interviewer beforehand, having prepared questions and portraying confidence can all go a long way in a first impression by showing the interviewer you care about this opportunity and will go the extra mile. These extra things can help mend a sour first impression or just add onto an already positive outlook.
similar, but one has to have a different approach because of the different culture. Learning how to distinguish the two was a challenge because I went into the military
The skills and lessons that I found most prevalent in my years of football were in leadership. Leadership, is something many people are naturally born with and it may come easy to them. Now, there is a difference between a leader and a manager, but both need to be efficient and effective with their leadership skills. I believe in some ways that I am a natural born leader, but football helped me to open my eyes as to what true leadership is about and what it takes to be a great leader. Now you may ask, if I’ve never played football how does this relate to me? Well, it is the principles of leadership and management in football that anyone and everyone can understand in the business world and that I took away from my experiences in the game.
I have found throughout my football life that talent is very valuable, the best players play and often help the team succeed to a certain extent. While talent is needed to a degree, it is great leadership and teamwork that enable reliable performances at the highest level possible. I have been on teams with one or two outstanding players but have lost every game; this goes to show that without a well led cohesive unit, great things cannot be accomplished. Those individuals who can bring a team together while focusing on their employees best interests as well as the interests of their organizations will achieve a championship season.
By helping employees break past their comfort zone and showing them that you care for their personal growth, you will encourage them to want to work harder. A strong team can accomplish anything they put their mind to if they are led by someone who knows how to maximize the talent that they have by pushing the team past their comfort zone and excelling them forward. What will you do to become the most effective leader possible? I know that when I do eventually lead that I will use the lessons and skills I have learned throughout my football career to most effectively bring my team to the next level. Managers and leaders can be found everywhere, but great and effective leaders come scarce.
where these past four years of my life had gone. It all simply came too quickly and is ending even quicker with graduation right around the corner. Every step of my life so far has been planned out to a “T.” I attended 18 years of school, but now what? This is the uncertainty aspect of it all. I know I’m supposed to get a job after graduation, but where do I want to work? Am I in the right field? A bachelor’s degree seems to be the equivalent of the previous high school diploma now a days, so do I continue my education? These are all questions I contemplate more than I would like to lately. I just have no idea what is going to happen next and my comfort zone is coming to an end. This realm of the unknown is overwhelming and absolutely terrifying.
myself for it. In another 4 years I’ll probably look back at who I was as a 21 year old and see another significant difference with a whelm of regrets. Life is about growing and learning along the experience filled journey to shape this incredible person you are and finding your way. There will be so many regrets and mistakes, but also a wave of accomplishments and memories. The natural occurrence of fear shouldn’t bring you down; it should motivate you. The uncertainty of what is coming next shouldn’t be fearful; it should be alluring. If failure arises it will only make you stronger and doubting yourself will only make you weaker. Graduating college is just the beginning. Life has barely started and there are so many good things to come.
I was taught from a young age that some things do not require talent, these traits and habits just take effort and practice. A few of them can give you that great first impression or once you have that job or internship, allow you to stick out among the rest of the employees and interns. The things that I believe translate the most from wearing my shoulder pads to tightening a tie are, accountability, being able to work on a team, being on time, and work ethic.
Having accountability is something that in football was necessary because if you were the one player who did not do their assignment correctly on a play the other ten players suffered. Accountability is the beginning of being a good teammate and being able to work on a football team is very difficult. You have roughly one hundred and twenty kids on a football roster, filled with different egos (good and bad), cultures, and regions of the country. This also resembles the workplace, although you may have less employees than a football roster you still have to deal with and work with all kinds of people from different walks of life. What better practice for this than being an athlete where you are forced to work with people you do not know, (at the start) to achieve this goal of winning? Being a good teammate is more important than just being able to work with others though, being able to understand the needs of individuals from different backgrounds is also important to being successful in the workplace. It allows you to help the group move forward instead of holding them back, which allows you to stay focused on the task at hand.
are checking social media or playing the latest game, it truly irritates me, it’s almost as if they forgot how to communicate without some sort of device in their hands.
The choice to telecommute requires an understanding of communication through technology. There are certain forms that are inappropriate and there can be a lack of personal communication that is missed out on when corresponding with others through technology. Hopefully, most people understand that snap chatting, or taking a selfie, attaching words to it and sending to your boss asking “What’d you think about that article?” is not only very inappropriate but may get you fired! Technology can be tricky for some people, but it is vital to understand the social boundaries that each form of communication entails.
relationship that we built.
ll take notice. Maybe not immediately, but don’t get discouraged, your boss and coworkers will take notice when you give that extra effort and it really leaves an impression on them. They may not say anything right away, but by pushing yourself you will inspire others around you to work harder as well. Be the leading force in any group or team by putting in just a little bit of extra effort. People will look up to you and respect you all the more for it. When it comes time for a promotion or a raise, your name will be at the forefront of everyone’s mind. No one thinks of the person who just gets by or the person who is just good, they think of those who are great. The people who are able to create a lasting impact are the ones who go above and beyond the call of duty. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and put in a little extra elbow grease, your hard work really will pay off! Always remember, nothing worth having comes easily.
Be prepared: I think many people walk into conversations unsure of what they want to say and how to get their point across. They know the general gist of what they want to cover, but haven’t fully thought out the direction they want to go in or, sometimes, what they want to say. These conversations generally include a difficult topic or involve the person asking for something. Either way, being unprepared can lead you to rethink your course of conversation or concede on something you are trying to attain. Whether it is resigning from your job or explaining to your partner that they are a shopaholic, make sure that you are prepared for the conversation and know exactly what you want to accomplish.
We have all experienced a fresh start at some point in our lives, whether it was moving away to college, to a new town, or even a new country. Whenever you look back on one of these experiences you forget about how uncomfortable that change was at first. I remember how uncomfortable I was just moving from middle school to high school, even though I had all of my friends moving up with me. The combination of the older kids and the new environment, with teachers expecting so much more from me, was a lot to take in. Fast forward 6 years and I am moving across the world by myself to live with a group of individuals that I have never met before.
Keep your eyes open: Always be on the lookout for new opportunities, new job openings etc. These things can be easy to miss- so make sure you are aware of what is going on in the world around you.
Networking: Meet new people! Put yourself out there and try to make as many friends as possible (preferably those in high places). Welcome any and all into your circle. These connections can inform you of new opportunities and even get your foot in the door with a recommendation or introduction.
Enlist your own personal cheerleader: Whether it is your spouse, significant other, sibling, parent, or friend. This person could be anyone, anyone who you can talk to about your insecurities and fears and will be by your side for the long haul. This is the kind of person you need to boost your confidence and help to encourage and support you on your new journey.
understands the topic otherwise they will not realize the difference between the word “spelt- a dinkel wheat mostly found in Europe” or “spelled- the past tense verb of spell”. This outside pair of eyes needs to know what you are writing about in order to catch those mistakes.
reposted something on social media, and had no clue what it was fully about? I know I am guilty of it. However, this is not the route we should be taking. We need
could be. Our society is so focused on getting things done immediately that we do not realize the little editing or grammatical errors we are making, and we need to start. No matter what kind of work you are in, you need to take a step back and look at every little detail, regardless if it is an e-mail you are sending to a co-worker, a boss or contract to a client, article for a magazine or newspaper, every little detail has to be perfect. Don’t be that careless employee, step up your game, and show them how outstanding you truly are!