Sydney recruiters have been gobsmacked by questions from job seekers about the supposed “red flag” they witnessed during a job search.
Realistic Career Specialist Recruiter and Career Coach Tammie Christofis Ballis often provides social media advice to people who are experiencing the job hunting or interview process.
One of my recent live Q&A sessions on Tiktok had one question that particularly caught her attention.
“Do you think recruiters will make a red flag call at 7pm?” asked one social media user.
“It’s definitely not. Why do you think it’s a red flag?” Barris replied.
She explained that if recruiters go to an effort to call you at 7pm, it means you are the “good person for the job” and they want you to move forward quickly.
Speaking to news.com.au, Barris said recruiters often work outside of normal hours to find the right candidate.
Calling outside of normal working hours means that if you have, they will not interrupt you at your current job.
“So it’s definitely not a red flag. If there is, it should be flattering,” she said.
The response to the video further confusing Sydney-based recruiters.
Even after explaining why the evening call, which was this situation, was a positive sign, many people still asserted that it was a red flag.
“Great red flag. Don’t get in the way of free time for people outside of business hours. Just like everyone else, call them at normal times. The boldness of these people,” said the person.
“No, I get mad. After business hours it’s family time. Does that set unhealthy expectations that I would be expected to work overtime for anything?” another person wrote.
Many claimed that on behalf of recruiters he showed a lack of respect for personal time and poor time management.
Others also falsely argued that calling recruiters after 5pm violated their new right to cut off the law.
The new law only relates to employees with the legal ability to ignore contacts other than time by either their employer or by a third party related to their current job.
People can certainly reject recruiter calls if they wish, but have nothing to do with their right to cut off the law.
Barris said this type of thinking “bred the rights and the lazy.”
But those who agreed to Barris said they were willing to call later that day if it meant moving on to job hunting.
Some said they were “happily” to get the call at 7pm if that meant that someone was offering them a job.
Another said it was “not a red flag,” and that they received a call in the evening from a recruiter who was excited to learn that their application had progressed recently.
“He apologised for opening hours, but generally he said that most candidates can’t make calls during opening hours while at work, so he saves calls in a few hours,” they said.
Another person agreed and wondered why someone wanted to call another job in front of their boss and colleagues.
“They are qualified to not make a call at 7am,” another added. “After a recent night texting about booking a final interview for work, I got a call at 9:30pm!
The job market is currently tough, and Barris says there are hundreds of thousands of people who apply for a single job.
And in her experience, if people complain about things as simple as answering calls outside of work hours, it only harms them in the long run.
“When everyone is crying when 1,000 people are applying for a job and everyone is crying, and if there’s an attitude issue where someone is calling you at 7pm, you’re not going to be successful in life. It’s literally so simple,” she said.
In fact, a Sydney recruiter said that if he tried to contact someone, or asked them to call again during work hours, it would raise a red flag for her.
“They really don’t want opportunities and show that they’re not going to waste time on someone who teaches me how to do my job,” she said, adding that they’ll instead invest their time in applicants who appreciate her follow-up.
But she added that it “goes both ways”, and calling recruiters after standard opening hours is “absolutely” okay.
Barris called people on Saturday or Sunday afternoons and she knows it’s coming as part of the job.
“People like to beat recruiters, but at least they’re people who work outside of normal hours. It’s not uncommon for them to have 12 or 16-hour days, but that’s why they make big committees.”
