I’ve called a few students lately to help with their search and have gotten this message, “We’re sorry. The person you have tried to call isn’t available right now. Please leave a short 10 second message and it will be converted to text. Again, these messages aren’t always converted correctly and you run the risk of missing out on internship opportunities if you do not have a professional voicemail set up. It is well worth it to have a professional voicemail, and it's not difficult to set up at all. If you haven't already got one, take 5 minutes to create it today. Back To All Next Article Take your video interviewing game to the next level
You should script out your greetings, rehearse, and find a tone of voice that is reflective of your professionalism and your company’s personality. If applicable, your tone and your message should take into account that certain industries and companies are more conservative than others.

The above section details types of phrasing to avoid; however, it doesn’t detail what users should NOT say on their greeting. Though this is a bit loaded, as there are hundreds of combinations of things one shouldn’t say, there are some key components users should ALWAYS avoid. a. Forget About Slang: You should strive to be as professional and welcoming as possible in your greeting. While this may steer you towards using slang, in an attempt to make callers comfortable, it’ll most likely work against you. As a professional, your demeanor, tone, and speech should be clear cut and well articulated. Using slang undercuts this and works against you. b. Don’t Even Think About Profanity: This is a no-brainer. Never, under any circumstances, curse in your greeting EVER! c. Keep Your Sentences Clean, Don’t Ramble: Introduce yourself and give your caller specific direction. Avoid long diatribes detailing tangent thoughts. Keep it simple and quick. d. Always Return Your Calls: It’s important for callers to feel they are valued. Nothing dissolves this quicker than a greeting that doesn’t stress this. For example, “I’ll call you when I can,” “If I don’t return your call, please call back”—these phrases are terrible and completely destroy any good will you may have with a caller.
To clear any customers doubts or expectations, make sure to mention on your voicemail when you’ll be available. Don’t say that you will “try” to return their call. Instead, offer them a realistic timeframe in which they can expect their call to be returned, so they know what to expect - whether it will take you 24 hours or a week to get back to them. This will eliminate your customer’s worries about your timeliness and encourage them to wait for your reply instead of heading over to your competitors.