Mobile Phones and Interviews

Daedalus

Some people seem completely deluded on what some roles involve. Sales directors do close deals. My CEO closes deals, that being the nature of working with some companies, Japanese firms in particular.

Seems to be a trend that it is those at the lower end of the hierarchy who think it is unacceptable to work late or be 'abrupt' to a colleague in order to maintain the customer relationship.

I have a phone that I must answer at all times whilst at work, not for any vital reason other than one customer (their contact) who s very large (£millions) will make a complaint if they can't reach me. There is no explaining, yes the customer is being unrealistic, but that doesn't matter, the customer is always right and it is my job to create a unified front regardless of the internal distress it is causing.

Takeaway_Addict

CCFC_80 wrote: »

Downright rudeness. I would have asked them if they would prefer to interview me again at a more convenient time. Probably better off Not getting the job if that's the type of organisation you could be working for.

You've determined the quality of the organisation of one person and one interview where their phone went of several times.

Talk about narrowing your options unnecessarily

CCFC_80

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

You've determined the quality of the organisation of one person and one interview where their phone went of several times.

Talk about narrowing your options unnecessarily

As I say it's all about first impressions. Now if the boot was on the other foot I could be the best candidate at an interview by a country mile.If my mobile was going off when being interviewed the interviewer is not going to be very impressed.

Southend1

Daedalus wrote: »

Some people seem completely deluded on what some roles involve. Sales directors do close deals. My CEO closes deals, that being the nature of working with some companies, Japanese firms in particular.

Seems to be a trend that it is those at the lower end of the hierarchy who think it is unacceptable to work late or be 'abrupt' to a colleague in order to maintain the customer relationship.

I have a phone that I must answer at all times whilst at work, not for any vital reason other than one customer (their contact) who s very large (£millions) will make a complaint if they can't reach me. There is no explaining, yes the customer is being unrealistic, but that doesn't matter, the customer is always right and it is my job to create a unified front regardless of the internal distress it is causing.

Why does the customer need to speak to YOU?

Surely they are calling about the relationship between your business and theirs?

Are all your colleagues really incapable of dealing with this business?

Would any complaint really be about not being able to reach YOU? Or would it be because they couldn't get what they needed from that phone call?

When I make calls at work I couldn't give a toss who answers the phone at the other end as long as I can sort out whatever needs sorting out. In this day and age there are many ways to ensure a call doesn't go unanswered without actually picking up the phone yourself each time it rings.

Daedalus

Southend1 wrote: »

Why does the customer need to speak to YOU?

Could be one of a million reasons.

Southend1 wrote: »

Surely they are calling about the relationship between your business and theirs?

Yes, in the sense they aren't calling for my opinion on what they should have for lunch?

Southend1 wrote: »

Are all your colleagues really incapable of dealing with this business?

For the most part, yes. It is quite a complex 'relationship', it is not feasible to keep another colleague uptodate on everything.They could buy time, but that isn't the point, that is bad customer service.

Southend1 wrote: »

Would any complaint really be about not being able to reach YOU? Or would it be because they couldn't get what they needed from that phone call?

Yes, several times I have been approached by senior management over a 'complaint'. They know full well it is because the customer is anal and needy so I'm not told off, but it is stressed that they are important.

Southend1 wrote: »

When I make calls at work I couldn't give a toss who answers the phone at the other end as long as I can sort out whatever needs sorting out. In this day and age there are many ways to ensure a call doesn't go unanswered without actually picking up the phone yourself each time it rings.

Yes, but we don't have the same job, do we? That is probably why you are having difficulty grasping this. If a colleague answered the phone and told them I was away, they would continue to ring me every few minutes (literally) until they reached me. They would then bring it up with the senior contact in my company at one of their shindigs.

It isn't a completely unreasonable request, they don't ring me outside of office hours, and neither during my lunch break. My boss feels that level of service is justified, so how annoying/messy it is to meet that service is irrelevant and should not be shown to the customer.

Southend1

Daedalus wrote: »

Could be one of a million reasons.



Yes, in the sense they aren't calling for my opinion on what they should have for lunch?



For the most part, yes. It is quite a complex 'relationship', it is not feasible to keep another colleague uptodate on everything.They could buy time, but that isn't the point, that is bad customer service.



Yes, several times I have been approached by senior management over a 'complaint'. They know full well it is because the customer is anal and needy so I'm not told off, but it is stressed that they are important.



Yes, but we don't have the same job, do we? That is probably why you are having difficulty grasping this. If a colleague answered the phone and told them I was away, they would continue to ring me every few minutes (literally) until they reached me. They would then bring it up with the senior contact in my company at one of their shindigs.

It isn't a completely unreasonable request, they don't ring me outside of office hours, and neither during my lunch break. My boss feels that level of service is justified, so how annoying/messy it is to meet that service is irrelevant and should not be shown to the customer.

Interesting take. Still don't agree but I can see why you think you need to answer the phone every time it rings.

tommytynan123

Disgusting behaviour.

Its not rocket science to divert your calls for an hour. Does the person in question
take the phone to the loo ??
answer it in the car ???
what about planes??
answer it in the bath/shower ??
down the pub ??
at the footy match ??
in the brothel ??:rotfl:

Bad manners

The_Hurricane

I didn't get the role - to be honest the phone going off put me off my rhythm too much.

The person interviewing was not in sales; she was an IT Manager. It seemed to be text messages she was receiving and she was replying to the texts while interviewing me.

The_Hurricane

Actually the feedback has been supplied by the recruitment agency and they have advised that in the middle of answering their questions I seemed to lose my way (this coincided with the phone going off). I have just submitted a complaint about the general unprofessionalism.

AP007

The_Hurricane wrote: »

I didn't get the role - to be honest the phone going off put me off my rhythm too much.

The person interviewing was not in sales; she was an IT Manager. It seemed to be text messages she was receiving and she was replying to the texts while interviewing me.

which could have been their best mate asking where they were meeting after work for all you know! :eek: