If a job ad says “no phone calls please” and you call them, does this show initiative or just plain annoyance?
Does the size of the company matter?
Call them and ask.
HA!! 
This can be rather annoying because applying online just seems to be a gigantic black hole with even the most ideal CV getting lost in the shuffle at times. I’ve found HR to be pretty terrible at finding good candidates in my experience. Try to get someone to make an intro to a person on the team or at least someone who can get you there.
^That’s a good idea.
I know that at big companies, calling HR is probably useless. The purpose of my question was originally aimed at small firms (<50). Skip the associate and call the VP or something; the CEO is probably too busy to deal with people calling them.
Seriously though - the message is pretty explicit. Don’t call. Unless the HR is a women, in which case, they mean the opposite of what they say, and you should call. “I deserve a candidate who understands my unspoken needs”, they might be saying to themselves.
^Funny guy.
HRs are depressed robots pretty much, they have no business in the hiring process.
I would not call. If I got a call from someone in that circumstance, I’d think that they couldn’t follow basic directions.
What about email? Gives them a choice of not answering or answer whenever they want.
I get what you’re saying and it’s certainly annoying when a bunch of calls come in for a job. That said, it’s also equally/if not more annoying just applying online and getting lost in the shuffle. Thinking back, I rarely ever got nibbles from online applications. It was all through my network and then the online part was just a formality.
Wait wait… They said don’t “call”, but specified no preference towards singing telegrams, or messages delivered by birds (hawk, dove, raven, etc.). Seems like these would be impressive gestures and might make the difference between you and another applicant who is inept at avian based communication.
^You’re on a roll these past few weeks with witty answers. More sex?
Actually, I went to a stand up comedy show - being there is like the opposite of sex. However, I was motivated to increase my comedic output - amiright? It just so happened that I read this message first…
Anyway, seriously, don’t call.
I’ve read that a lot on here… likely the ideal way to do it. I’ve been trying to develop my network. Every finance job I’ve had, I’ve gotten cold applying online. One of the places I interviewed with said they got over 300 resumes and applications in a week, super competitive out there if you don’t know the right people.
The best way to show initiative is to get the email of the hiring manager. I’ve always had a far better response when I could send an email to the guy directly.
^ Which leads me to another question. At a small firm (<50), let’s say there are 3 teams. Would the hiring manager be the leader of each of those three teams or would the CEO of the entire firm have the final say in the hiring process? Which would give me a better response?
Exactly. So a lot of the more credible resumes get lost in the shuffle. I was amazed by how far off the mark some of the candidates HR brought in.
Not the CEO. Try to find the person who the position would report to. So if it is a Small cap equity analyst position…find the relevant manager. You may end up needing to guess and email more than one person.
^getting the hiring managers email is oen of the toughest things to do lol