Do recruiters call twice to candidates?

Question

I have been approached by a recruiter recently and I was waiting for a contact to know if I went on the interview process.

Meanwhile I received another a missing call of a number I didn't had on my contacts address. Hoping it was the recruiter I call them back. To my surprise it was another recruiter who wanted to talk with me. He told me to hang down and he would call me in two minutes. After a couple of minutes he call me and we talked.

I usually don't call back to numbers of missing calls, because I think if they are interested in reaching me, at least they will call me twice or reach by other means (email, LinkedIn, Facebook...). Is this a good assumption with recruiters? Do they normally call twice or try to reach candidates by other means if the first time fails?

My fear is I might have lost opportunities not calling back in the past (at least when I was actively looking for a job).

Notes:

• Both recruiters got my telephone number from a website where my CV is loaded.
• I am based on Spain (if this might affect)
• The positions where related to my experience and skills
• I finished the degree recently and I am pursuing a master in Bioinformatics

Answer 1

I'm sorry, but we have no way of knowing what one recruiter or another might do.

In my experience recruiters who are truly interested in getting a response will try to get a hold of you more than once, and likely e-mail you rather than call.

Then again, I make a point of not publicly listing my phone number on any job website exactly so that I won't get an important call at an inopportune moment.

That being said, yes, you might have missed some opportunities. There's nothing you can do going forward except:

• A) Making sure that you list an e-mail alongside your phone number

• B) Get voicemail service

Answer 2

This is purely up to the recruiter, there is no set handbook they all adhere to. Trying to psychoanalyse why is a waste of effort.

Answer 3

This is a very common sales tactic, the idea is to have constant contact with the customer in order to have a continuous time bridge. It also sets the tone, if they can call you back whenever they are the ones in control in this relationship. The way to handle is to inform the recruiter that you are a very busy individual and this is the only time today that you are free to talk with them.