A chatbot is that little pop up that mostly sits at the right-hand side of a web page and offers to help. Sometimes these chatbots are actually real people, but more often than not, they are automated and designed to answer those frequently asked questions that people have (like, why is my internet not working or how do I check how much my daughter is racking up in international roaming).

When you are being asked questions by a chatbot, and I will be honest, sometimes the questions might seem silly, OR it doesn’t understand what you want, you can become frustrated. But here is a red hot tip.

Don’t swear at a Chatbot.

It might be a machine, but the transcript of the chat goes STRAIGHT to the people you want to make a good impression with. So when you tell Pete the Chatbot to “stick it where the sun don’t shine” the person you want to talk to about the job is going to see that. And there’s a good chance that they will say that you do not display the character and professionalism we want to present to our clients. It doesn’t matter that you are the most qualified or most experienced, your character has let you down.

If you find that a chatbot is not giving you the answers you want or need, there should always be an option to talk to a real person or to have a message sent to a real person who can call you back. Choose that option or if nothing else, end the chat and find another option for contacting a live person.

Chatbots are not going to go away – they are a powerful tool for providing information fast and efficiently and in a time and place that suits you. But how you interact and deal with a chatbot WILL influence what people think of you in real life. So be polite, be friendly and be professional.