Recruiter's hot take on 7pm phone sparks debate among Aussie workers (2025)

A recruitment specialist has explained why a call outside of business hours is not a 'red flag' but a sign you'll get a job.

Tammie Ballis is a specialist recruiter and career coach at Realistic Careers and has given out plenty of advice on social media to people searching for jobs.

Just last month she told Daily Mail Australia that it was a waste of time writing cover letters because a resume is enough for a recruiter to judge a person's candidacy.

During a recent live Q&A session on TikTokrecently, Ms Ballis was asked if a recruiter calling a job hunter at 7pm was a 'red flag'.

'Absolutely not. Why would you think that's a red flag?' she said.

'Someone calling you at 7pm in the nighttime about a job means that, number one, they're working hard, number two, you're the right person for the job and they want to put you forward quickly.

'I would be very flattered and very excited if someone's working after hours and they've thought of me, to call me, so it's absolutely not a red flag.'

Ms Ballis said recruiters often work outside of business hours so they can find the right candidate.

Despite the encouraging advice from the recruitment guru, many online disagreed.

'Huge red flag. Don't disturb people's free time outside of business hours. Call during normal hours like everybody else. The audacity of these people,' one said.

'Red flag, they don't respect personal space or boundaries. They don't have good time management and are not getting their work done in normal hours. But 7pm, I am home with my family, don't interfere,' another wrote.

But Ms Ballis said she was 'baffled' by the comments.

'When everybody's whinging that 1,000s of people are applying for jobs, if you've got an attitude problem that someone is calling you at 7pm… you're not going to succeed at life. It's literally that simple,' she told news.com.au.

Ms Ballis said if she tried to contact someone at night and they asked her to call back during work hours that would in fact raise a red flag on her end.

'It shows that they really don't want the opportunity and I'm not going to waste my time on someone who's telling me how to do my job,' she said.

Other commenters wrongly claimed a recruiter calling after 5pm violated the new Right to Disconnect laws.

The new laws only relate to employees having the legal ability to ignore contact outside of hours either by their employer or a third party relating to their job.

Others said they would be happy to take a call later in the day if it helped their chances of landing a job.

'A recruiter offering me a job is the only work call I'd gladly receive at 7pm,' one person wrote.

'If you're looking for a job... I'd accept a call at 11pm,' another said.

Some pointed out that it was a smart and polite tactic to call outside business hours so a current employee wouldn't have to answer a call about another job in front of their boss and co-workers.

Another agreed, questioning why anyone would want to take a call about another job in front of their boss and colleagues.

'Entitlement that they can't take a call at 7pm. I got a call at 9.30pm after a text message the other night about booking a final interview for a job!' one said.

'Hell yes I'm now preferred candidate and I slept well without worrying!

'Stop being precious.'

TikTok

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