Recently, a Comcast employee infamously gave the company a black eye by changing a customer’s name from Ricardo to “A–hole” on his account. The story of this uncouth behavior was verified and then went viral.
No matter how many public apologies the company’s executives made for the rogue employee’s action, their carefully crafted brand suffered in the public’s mind. Who can tell how many potential customers, as a result, chose not to hire Comcast as their cable provider, without regard to how well the company’s services might fill their needs?
There is a powerful lesson here for job hunters. Behavior, attitude and manners are all components of your personal brand and the impression you make. No matter how qualified you might be for the role you seek, if you act in a discourteous fashion, you will diminish your chances of being hired.
Even though you’ll never see a rejection letter that says, “We didn’t hire you because you were rude,” you can be certain that hiring managers routinely cast aside candidates who don’t show appropriate respect and common courtesy.
Here are seven etiquette tips that will enhance your reputation throughout your job search (and beyond):
