Should I call or email this potential employer?

CodeBlox

At the time I didn't have A+ while asking about the position. He suggested I get this cert. I have it now(two months later). Should I call and speak to him or email him? I've called today and he's not in the office. Should I just send him an email? It's for a position at a help desk.

When I called today, he did have voice-mail setup. Should I have left a voicemail? I should note that I also have his cell phone number. Should I call it? The lady at the front desk gave me the number, I didn't ask for it, but she gave me it.

mikej412

I doubt you have anything to lose by giving him a call and leaving a message.

Then follow up in a couple days with an email if you don't hear back from him.

tbgree00

Voicemails are tricky because once you leave one it could be awkward to call back. I didn't really like leaving them when I was eager to get an interview. If you have his email address you could send one saying "I took your advice and got my A+, I'm looking forward to talking to you about moving forward on the position and will give you a call tomorrow afternoon at Xpm. Of course if this afternoon works better for you my number is XXX-XXXX and I'll be available any time aftert Xpm. I've attached my updated resume reflecting the new A+ certification." Also don't forget to attach it! I did that and it was mortifying.

If he calls great, if not call when you said you would. Hopefully he would be free or suggest a better time before. If not you can leave the voicemail at that time and play the waiting game for a few days.

CodeBlox

Sent the email and HOLY HELL! He responded within the hour. Said I have to come in for a "technical exam". He asked if I could come today or tomorrow. It's going to have to be tomorrow. Wow, I didn't think he would respond so soon! This is a great start. I'm so excited even though I haven't gotten the job this all feels like a rush for me!!!

colemic

Good luck! Just relax, take a deep breath, and you will do well.

CodeBlox

Thanks, I've scheduled for 11:30am. Turns out it's an over the phone technical interview. How can things go wrong? How hard could they make this? It's for tier 1 and tier 2 work at the help desk.

RouteThisWay

Good luck man Get a good nights rest and BREATHE. They will ask you questions you will NOT know the answer to. They want to see where your skills are at. By asking harder and harder questions, they can really see where you are

Relax and good luck!

Plantwiz

CodeBlox wrote: »

Thanks, I've scheduled for 11:30am. Turns out it's an over the phone technical interview. How can things go wrong? How hard could they make this? It's for tier 1 and tier 2 work at the help desk.

It may not simply be on how well you troubleshoot, but how you 'sound' on the phone.

Some people are outstanding on the telephone. They can make the caller feel at ease, feel important and that their call to you was the 'right' thing to do!

Some folks on the other hand, get frustrated, make the caller feel stupid for calling and could escalate the problem.

So while your ability to troubleshoot will be tested (or very likely will be tested), your ability to clearly speak with the end-user, stay calm, but be efficient (high call per hour resolution rate) will be likely evaluated as well.

Excessive Throat clearing, saying 'um', and other poor phone habits will likley detract from their impression.

Relax, do your best and remember to SMILE while you are on the phone...post sticky notes near your phone when you speak with them.

CodeBlox

Thanks for the advice. You mentioned sticky notes. What would you suggest I write on them? Was it more along the lines of "smile" or should I write technical content on them to aid in answering questions?

Plantwiz

Write 'smile'

And or whatever short, quick, encouraging note or acronym you may find helpful.

You do not want to be reading a novel during the interview, but if some quick note makes sense for you do it.

"thank you Mr. 'Smith'"

"Would you mind if I call you (next week Wednesday, or whatever makes sense) to follow up with you?"

Again, do not fret too much, but 'smile' reminders I have found beneficial on phone calls because you do not see the non-verbal clues.

Also, if you tend to overtalk others, a reminder of (pause), (breathe), (count to 10 before answering) may be helpful as well.

the notes should be a benefit...not a crutch. Skip them if this doesn't make sense for you.

CodeBlox

Man!!! Just got off the phone from the technical interview. I was soooooo freaking nervous! I'm not even sure how I did. I was able to answer a bunch of the questions correctly I think but then there were others where I just straightup said "I don't know". Is that bad? I hope I didn't blow this!!! I'm still shooken up from the experience alone!!! She said she'd call me back by friday. Either email or phone call.

earweed

You probably did OK. A lot of times the interviewers don't expect you to know everything but just be honest if you don't know it. Don't try to BS.
Hope you get some good news back about this.

Plantwiz

CodeBlox wrote: »

Man!!! Just got off the phone from the technical interview. I was soooooo freaking nervous! I'm not even sure how I did. I was able to answer a bunch of the questions correctly I think but then there were others where I just straightup said "I don't know". Is that bad? I hope I didn't blow this!!! I'm still shooken up from the experience alone!!! She said she'd call me back by friday. Either email or phone call.

Congratulations!

And personally, I don't take the "I don't know" comments as negative...IF/WHEN the candidate can find the resources or at least knows their current limits (and is willing to learn more).

So, for the most part, when someone admits "they" don't know something, I see that as a sign I know they won't 'BS" their way through with a client.

CodeBlox

That is comforting to hear. Two of the questions asked where I responded with "I don't know" were: 1) What is the difference between a roaming profile and a local profile? And 2) How do I create a PST file in outlook?

It's a shame I couldn't answer the second one. I only just started using outlook. I think there was maybe one other where I said "I don't know".

One other thing, I began to think the exam was given by an automated machine. Turns out it was a lady who just sounds like a robot O_O

CodeBlox

He just called back and told me I passed the test. I got 18 / 20 questions correct. The ones I got wrong were the two that I said "I don't know" for haha! Had to get 17 correct out of the 20 to pass.

Hypntick

CodeBlox wrote: »

That is comforting to hear. Two of the questions asked where I responded with "I don't know" were: 1) What is the difference between a roaming profile and a local profile? And 2) How do I create a PST file in outlook?

It's a shame I couldn't answer the second one. I only just started using outlook. I think there was maybe one other where I said "I don't know".

One other thing, I began to think the exam was given by an automated machine. Turns out it was a lady who just sounds like a robot O_O

There is nothing wrong with not knowing the answer to something. However how you answer that question does matter. A simple "I don't know" may not be enough. A better answer is usually "I'm not familiar with that, could you possibly explain it to me?" Take each question as a chance to learn something new. Perhaps a "I've never seen it, but I know where to go for more information" is also acceptable. Good luck on the job!

CodeBlox

I understand what you're saying. I was just under the impression that in the traditional sense, this is a test and as such, I am only to provide an answer. I actually was thinking about that after I got off the phone. I started to wonder "Maybe I should have answered that 'I don't know question' a little differently". Too late to change my answer now however, I will keep that in mind and take it to the next interview.

Plantwiz

Hypntick wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with not knowing the answer to something. However how you answer that question does matter. A simple "I don't know" may not be enough. A better answer is usually "I'm not familiar with that, could you possibly explain it to me?" Take each question as a chance to learn something new. Perhaps a "I've never seen it, but I know where to go for more information" is also acceptable. Good luck on the job!

Exactly!

Not knowing something and saying it with a follow-up to learn more vs. an "I don't know." period, end-of-sentence, I'm not moving from this spot...are two different ways to answer.

Nevertheless, it seems you did what you needed.

Congratulations!

Turgon

CodeBlox wrote: »

At the time I didn't have A+ while asking about the position. He suggested I get this cert. I have it now(two months later). Should I call and speak to him or email him? I've called today and he's not in the office. Should I just send him an email? It's for a position at a help desk.

When I called today, he did have voice-mail setup. Should I have left a voicemail? I should note that I also have his cell phone number. Should I call it? The lady at the front desk gave me the number, I didn't ask for it, but she gave me it.

Drop an email and then forget it and get on with your life. Apply for jobs everywhere.

CodeBlox

Turgon, they've been communicating with me and I've actually passed the technical interview.

Currently they are doing my background check. This is for an interim security clearance. Being that the job is DoD, I need to get Security+, and FAST! The recruiter called me back a few hours later telling me I needed to complete a DoD questionare and submit it along with a birth certificate for them to process the background check. I think to myself, "how hard could this be?". I check my email, and attached is a PDF file that I need to complete. One thing needed was a hand signature -_-. I honestly had never scanned ANYTHING, EVER. So I have about half hour until I need to get to class for an exam and I'm really pressed for time. I decide "there is no way I'm missing out on this job opportunity" and I complete the document. Come time to scan it, I actually figured out how to scan the document after a lot of fumbling around and running around the house. The guy has NO IDEA of the trouble I went through to get this thing scanned. After that, the document was on my system as 4 separate jpg files and I didn't even know how to create a PDF. -_- so now I'm really panicing because he told me it needed to be in within the hour. So I decided to put all four images in a word document, and convert the word document to PDF and it worked! Do you guys have employers that aren't aware of some of the troubles that you guys go through? My problem may have sounded trivial, but believe me, I've never had the need to create PDF's or scan documents. Now I know how though Now all is well and they are processing my background check. Wont know about the next procedure in the hiring process for a few days.

Dakinggamer87

Awesome news!!