What do you tell them on the phone? Are they prepared for just "Hi I want to apply for the $job position"? And do they have an answer besides "cool, use the website"?
They put their phone number there because they want you to call it. I say "I saw this position <position name> advertised on LinkedIn and I'm interested, is this still available?"
Last time I did this they told me it is but that they are at late stages of interviewing so I shouldn't bother applying for that one, but they got down my details and had other jobs that matched what I was looking for. Recruiters are sales people and you just reversed cold called them making their job easier. The majority of applications are AI bots and people who don't live in the country the job is listed in. By making a phone call you are up the top of the list of "most likely to be a legitimate applicant".
And when was this? I can't remember the last time anyone had their phone number publicly displayed on LinkedIn. And now messaging recruiters is a paid feature. The market's only making it more difficult to reach a human.
US here. When I've tried similar tactics in other contexts, I tend to get an answer along the lines of "cool, use the website", and politely trying to get me off the phone. But maybe it's worth a shot. :)
Yeah, it may be a cultural difference. The US has a huge fear of doxxing in the modern world. Can be traced back to decades when a crazed fan murdered a celebrity in their home. Easily accessible firearms definitely doesn't help.
This even applies to businesses in some cases. You trying to walk in and talk to someone is a security threat compared to the times where you could do that and walk out with a job offer. US companies absolutely hate unsolicited calls from non-businesses.
