How to communicate by phone that I won't consider an internship position?

Question

My situation is pretty unusual: I graduated about 1 year ago and since then I get called about 1 - 2 times per month by companies that get my phone number from the school from which I graduated. They 99% of the time want to have a job interview for a position as an intern, but they don't say it right away. I discover this only during the interview.

The problem is that I currently have a job so unless the offer is extremely stimulating (I hold the company in high esteem, interesting tasks...), I do not want an interview.

So my question is: how do I, in a polite way, communicate by phone that I won't consider a position as an intern?

Additional information

• How do I know that they will offer a position as an intern and not something more? It is common to offer freshly graduated students an internship position in my country. Plus I have had about 10 interviews this way and all of them offered to start with an internship.
• I could turn the offer down with a random excuse, but I prefer to be honest, and would also like to be sure that they are actually offering an internship, and not something else.
• All these internship offers are paid.

Answer 1

When you've established who's calling, simply be upfront about it.

Sorry for interrupting, but is this about an intern position?

The actual wording doesn't really matter, but you're aiming to get to the core of the reason for the call fairly quickly so you don't waste any time.

And then deal with the response accordingly. Then you won't have to deal with meaningless chatter and you can get on with your day.

There's nothing wrong with asking clearly for what you want. You've obviously been through this conversation before, so you should know what questions to ask in order to make a decision about continuing the phone call or not. Get these questions in sooner rather than later.

Since you're in Italy, GDPR may serve to protect you, although it might take some effort to working out who/how to remove yourself from whatever directory these callers are using. You should certainly call the school in the first instance to understand how your personal details are used, and to update your contact preferences. But if you do this, consider that you may also be cutting off offers that you might find attractive in the future.

Answer 2

Although Snow's answer is good if you receive a call, the best thing to do is to try to prevent the calls.

If these employers are getting your contact information from your school, reach out to the school and try to figure out how to get them to either update the information to allow potential employers to see that you have graduated and are currently employed or to simply stop providing your contact information.

These companies getting your information, reviewing it, and reaching out to you for internships is not only wasting your time, but theirs as well. The right thing to do is to save everyone time by making sure they have the right information.

Answer 3

how do I, in a polite way, communicate by phone that I won't consider a position as an intern?

Your opening question should be something along these lines:

"Thanks for contacting me! I do want to mention up front that I already have a full time job and so I am absolutely not looking for an internship. Should we continue talking?"

Polite, but to the point.

Answer 4

Just ask?

You: Is this an internship?
Them: Yes.
You: Ah, okay. I'm not looking for internships at the moment.
Them: Okay, well thanks for your time.
You: No problem bye.

Don't overcomplicate life.

Answer 5

If a recruiter gives me an unsolicited call about a job, I wouldn't ever agree to go to an interview, unless they first send me a job description, so I can see the full details of the job and make sure it is suitable and a good fit for me.

So, the first thing I would ask/demand, if a recruiter calls you, is for them to send you a job description. No job description = no interview, simple as that. Most of these people also have very thick skin - don't be afraid to be blunt, say "sorry, I'm not interested" and put the phone down. After all, they are cold calling you.

Otherwise, I would strongly consider what Thomas Owens says in his answer, about putting a stop to the calls at the source.

Answer 6

Create a LinkedIn profile!

Recruiters will usually check your online presence before calling you. If their search turns up a LinkedIn page with your current employment status, they probably won't want to waste their own time by calling you for a position you probably won't be open to.

(Of course, this is in addition to some of the other answers dealing with the call once it does arrive. However, preventing is better than curing, and this is an effective way to prevent the call all together, even if you can't prevent your contact details from being handed to the recruiters.)

Answer 7

I wouldn't necessarily rule out an "internship" if you're just worried about "volunteer" (unpaid) labor, because where I'm at, computer jobs have sometimes included paid internships.

Just ask them how much pay they are offering. If the number is acceptable, state that you may consider and are interested in hearing more details. If not, let them know you have some different standards in order to be interested.

(Also, follow the advice provided by other answers of checking with your school to see if you can modify a "profile" with them, to let them know of your minimal requirements (or complete lack of current interest))

Answer 8

The simplest approach to me would be to ask the salary range. If it’s low / in “internship” region, then I’d just politely say that’s less than what I’d be looking for in a new full-time role. If it is an internship then the recruiter will probably clarify (“Oh, actually this is an internship”) at which point you can say, “Thanks, but no thanks” after having made your position and intentions clear in a non-confrontational way.