What to Do When You Miss a Recruiters Phone Call - Dont Panic!

What to Do When You Miss a Recruiters Phone Call - Dont PanicWhat to Do When You Miss a Recruiters Phone Call - Dont PanicYoure in the car driving to another job interview, and an unknown number calls you what do you do? If youre like most of us, you let it go to voicemail. Then you listen to your messages. Right?What happens when you listen to your messages and hear a recruiter telling you to please call him back about a potential job interview? You die just a little inside, then panic sets in, and then you pull across four lanes of rush hour traffic so you can call him back. WAIT, when you miss a recruiters phone call, do this insteadTake a few minutes to catch your breathYoure probably screaming inside your head, Are you nuts? Why wouldnt I call him back right away?Yes, we know there is an interview and possibly a job offer on the line. And, we also know that you shouldnt wait too long to return his call, but think about how your mind would be racing with hundreds of thoughts abo ut missing this very important phone call.Job recruiters have told us that it always catches them off-guard when a candidate calls them back in a complete panic. It just makes the conversation more complicated than necessary and they spend most of the phone call trying to reassure the candidate that everything is going to be alright.So, before you return the call completely out of breath, and making no sense, take a five-minute breather. The recruiter isnt going to change what he wanted to talk to you about just because you didnt pick up the phone on their first call. Just take a beat before dialing him back.Remember its okay if you get sent to voicemailNow its time to play the proverbial game of phone tag Dont panic if you get sent to voicemail when you return his call. This happens all the time, and most recruiters (at least the reasonable ones) understand the game of phone tag and that it happens often.Were only human, so our initial reaction is to stop doing everything and wait to hear back from them, but why risk missing a call again because you got caught up in something else? Once you leave your message, dont just sit there staring at your phone waiting for it to ring. Youre leise looking for a job, right? So, get back to work looking for a job while you sit and wait for a callback.Be productive if youre not in the mood to job searchSilence can be so distracting when youre waiting for a recruiter to call you back. The anticipation can be so great that its hard to find the motivation to keep looking for a job. After all, youve put in a lot of long days job searching. Its okay to give yourself permission to do something else.Is there a book about a career interest youve been ignoring for months? Pick it up and spend a little time reading, it will help pass the time and you just might learn something beneficial. Maybe you have a hobby that you just havent had time for lately. Even though it seems like there are plenty of things you should be doing, take so me time to do something for yourself. You will be surprised how productive you become.When theres a job offer on the line, nobody likes waiting to hear back and it only gets more painful when you play the phone tag game with someone who holds your future in their hands. Remember something, you will eventually connect, so dont torture yourself by sitting there hour after hour staring at your phone, willing it to ring.