You have the right abilities for the job opportunity. You’ve done your research about the company. You have a CV that can immediately catch a recruiter's attention, and you have the required experience. You're the perfect candidate for the job. All of this can be undone if you make the wrong first impression.

In many cases, the first contact you have with a recruiter will be when they call and leave a voicemail. And while you won't be there to physically interact with them, your voicemail will leave the right impression. Here are five tips to help you make sure it's the former.

1. Keep Things Professional

While voicemail may seem like a great way to express your personality, you may want to keep things professional if you're expecting a phone call from a recruiter. A professional voice mail greeting is an effective, yet simple way to make the right first impression. So forget the creative and expressive voicemail greetings and stick to a more conventional message that will be well received by pretty much every recruiter.

Here’s an example of how to keep your voicemail professional:

“Hello, You’ve reached John Jane, I’m sorry I can’t take your call at this moment, kindly leave your name, number and a message, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you”

2. Eliminate Unnecessary Background Noise

Yes, you have a personal life, but the sound of dogs barking or kids yelling in the background might be off-putting to a recruiter. To get around this, choose the quietest time of the day—or night if you have to—to make your voicemail.

Better yet, if you have a productive home office, make your recording there!

3. Keep it as Short as Possible

Keep your voicemail short. Not many recruiters will have the patience to listen to unnecessarily lengthy voicemails. Ideally, your voicemail should last between 15 and 30 seconds.

Ideally, you should let the recruiter do much more of the talking. That said, your voicemail greeting should not be rushed. Instead, aim to deliver your message with clarity and conviction.

If you're not sure that you can pull this off, perhaps due to a speech impediment, you can try using text-to-speech technology that will take your text and convert it into human speech.

4. Use a Script

You might think, "oh, it's just a voice mail greeting," so a script is not necessary. You'd be wrong. Having a script will help free your mind from having to come up with a message on the spot—as you record your voice mail greeting. This will give you the right degree of freedom to focus on delivering the message effectively.

5. Smile as You Record

Did you know that listeners can tell when a speaker is smiling even without seeing them? According to ScienceDaily, people can even determine the type of smile you have on merely by listening to you.

Use this to your advantage by leaving a voicemail that will leave recruiters feeling positive after they listen to you. All you have to do is keep a genuine smile on while you talk!

An Example of the Perfect Voicemail Greeting

"Hi! This is the voicemail of Jane Doe. I'm sorry, I'm currently away from the phone, but if you leave a message, I will be in touch! You can also reach me by email at janedoe@gmail.com. Thanks for calling!"

Use These Tips to Leverage Voicemail Effectively

Voice mail is an often underrated tool in any job search. Used right, your voicemail may be your ticket to creating a strong first impression. For the best results, remember to keep things professional, short, and simple, with as little background noise as possible. Using a script will help, and of course, don't forget to smile!

While leaving a great voice mail greeting will help in your job search, there is a lot more to do to get the job of your dreams. Adopting a holistic strategy will significantly improve your prospects.