‘It ticks me off’: Jobseeker calls out recruiters for ringing at odd hours without notice

SINGAPORE: A frustrated jobseeker took to social media to share his annoyance at what he called the lack of basic courtesy from some employers and recruiters who call him out of the blue, often at odd hours.

Posting on a local forum on Saturday (Aug 30), the man explained that he has been in the workforce for about a decade, with his longest stint at any company lasting two to three years. Drawing on this experience, he said that each time he re-enters the job market, he notices the same problem. Many recruiters simply pick up the phone and call without warning.

“It ticks me off that 99% [of them do this]. In the age of scam calls, most people would not pick up phone calls. So I believe it’s a given that texting to initiate first contact should be the proper way to go,” he wrote.

“Shouldn’t standard procedure be dropping a WhatsApp to identify yourself first before trying to contact the job seekers? I see fewer and fewer recruiters do this these days. Sorry for being long-winded, [but] I would like to hear from a recruiter’s POV on why they do this.”

“Calling candidates is the standard procedure.”

Other forum users echoed the jobseeker’s frustrations in the discussion thread, saying they too found unannounced calls disruptive and inconsiderate. 

One said, “Absolutely share the same sentiments, not even a courtesy email or WhatsApp at the very least. Inconsiderate HR with unprofessional tones.” 

Another added, “HR is the most useless function, and they get paid big bucks for being useless. I should have gone into HR long ago, but didn’t have the foresight.”

On the other hand, in response to the jobseeker’s query, one recruiter shared that they usually avoid using WhatsApp or their personal numbers to contact applicants first, as it can appear unprofessional and blur work-life boundaries. That’s why emails are their preferred method for arranging the first call. The problem is that only about half of applicants actually check or reply to their emails.

“[This is] why we politely call unannounced,” they said. “Of course, calling unannounced isn’t ideal, but what’s the alternative?”

Another commented, “Calling candidates is the standard procedure. The reason some companies started using WhatsApp for communication is because of the rise of WFH, which prompted them to adopt faster, more direct methods. While calling in odd hours, how odd is odd? After work hours? For me, that’s probably a red flag. Why are you working so late in the company that I am applying for? That just shows the work culture there for me.”

In other news, a tech worker earning S$200,000 a year has confessed on social media that the “excitement” he once felt in his job has completely disappeared.

“I used to find it enjoyable when an issue rose, and I was woken up at some unearthly hour to troubleshoot and manage. With my promotions, I realise it’s increasingly become more managerial, and [the] job seems more working around the office politics and lunching with stakeholders than working on something meaningful,” he said.

Read more: Singapore tech worker with S$200K annual pay confesses he’s lost ‘excitement’ in his career