Phone calls are no longer the main means by which young people communicate, preferring instead the less socially demanding medium of text messaging. This means that young workers often find themselves unable to handle phone calls properly.
One 25-year-old recent graduate says she recently got told off after making a phone call to a client. "I'm used to text messages, so I feel awkward about calling and sometimes I make unexpected mistakes," she admits.
The basic etiquette for a professional phone call is to let the person on the other side know your name and who you work for, even if you are calling someone you already know.
Job portal site Incruit polled 675 salaried workers on professional phone calls, and 28.2 percent admitted the most unpleasant experience was when the caller did not identify him or herself and went straight to the point.
Lee Jeong-sook, who runs a consulting agency, said, "The timing of a phone call is an important aspect of good manners. A good thing about smartphones is that they make it so easy to switch to and from texts and phone calls. Ask the other person whether this is good time to call, and if not, ask when would be a good time."
Surprisingly many people complain of callers hanging up abruptly without saying goodbye. Shin Myung of PR agency Communique said, "Remember to wait for about three seconds after a conversation is over to give time the person on the other side time to hang up."
Saying "Thank you" or "Have a nice day" is the least callers can do at the end of a conversation.
