Keep a Calendar Handy...

One of my biggest pet peeves is when I call a candidate for a phone interview and the candidate asks me if I can send an e-mail reminder for the phone interview.  The answer to this question, in case you are curious, is no.  Absolutely not.  Never gonna' happen.  Still no.

The recruiter is not your admin and is not responsible for ensuring that you calendar your meetings.  The message you send with this question is that the interview is not that important to you; it's just one more thing you need to take care of and you will definitely need a reminder.  The other message you send is that you're lazy.  You should be able to take 30 seconds out of whatever you are doing to make a note to yourself.

Another question you should never ask a recruiter is if he can send you the job description.  It is o.k. to ask for the recruiter to tell you the name of the company again so you can go find the posting to which you applied, but never, ever ask the recruiter to send it to you.  You found it in the first place, go find it again.  And by all means, do find it.  Do not enter into any interview unprepared.  Refer back to Resume 101 – The Do’s and Don'ts of How to get Noticed (for the right reasons).  Part II in our III part Series.

You need to keep in mind, you are one of perhaps 30 people a recruiter is going to call in a day.  You are applying for one of perhaps 20 open jobs.  That the recruiter called you at all is somewhat miraculous - do not blow it by asking to recruiter to do any work for you.  Good luck to you!