Telephone etiquette

Hi

I applied to take part in a Japanese speech contest in London in February and have just received a phone call form the person who will be interviewing me.

When I had to hang up the phone while living in Japan - and just now, admittedly - I would say "失礼しました"　before gently holding it away from my ear and waiting for the other person to hang up.

However, I sometimes wonder if this is the wrong way to go about things.

I assume there would be very strict rules for telephone conduct if you were working in Japan and that the rules would be different depending on if you were talking with a friend, a colleague, your boss and somebody who is giving you a job interview versus some other purpose.

I'd hate to find out that I'd been doing the wrong thing for all this time!

Many thanks if you can help, and apologies if this has topic has already been covered.

When I had to hang up the phone while living in Japan - and just now, admittedly - I would say "失礼しました"　before gently holding it away from my ear and waiting for the other person to hang up.

It sounds nice and considerate :) If I might adjust one thing, I might say "shitsurei shimaSU" or "shitsurei itashimasu" (more polite) in the sense of "now I'm going to excuse myself out of this conversation." "Shitsurei shimashiTA" would be more of "sorry to have disturbed you" so you don't have to be THAT humble for a conversation that was mutually enjoyed/needed.

You could also say "arigatou gozaimashita" or "yoroshiku onegaiitashimasu" as well.

Best wishes for your success at the contest (and the interview)!

When I hang up the phone I would say


to friends

じゃーね〜。/じゃ、またね。/また、連絡するわ〜

to customers (sales talk)

お忙しいところ、お時間いただきまして、ありがとうございました。それでは、失礼いたします。

また、あらためて、ご連絡します。それでは・・・失礼します。

to boss

it's depend on situation, if you have to report something, you can say

また、状況がわかりしだい、ご連絡します。

I think it is depend on boss,　but some peopel are not very polite to their boss like

はい、じゃ、また、連絡します。

Well, boss can hang up the phone without saying anything.

Have you been furiously bowing unconsciously when you are excusing yourself to hang up while talking to your boss, business client, etc.? It is their habit.