Tips for Phone Interviews
Yes, phone interviews can be awkward, but they are a useful tool for an employer hoping to narrow down a large pool of applicants, simplify the recruiting process for an out-of-town candidate, or minimize expenses for their organization. Your goal, simply put, is to convince the employer that you are a candidate worth advancing to the next round.
Before the Phone Interview:
While most phone interviews will be scheduled in advance, it is not unheard of that a potential employer could call you up unannounced. If you have submitted a resume to an organization, always be prepared for a random phone call. With this in mind, it is best to keep your resume, along with a short list of your accomplishments, next to your phone at all times so that you can refer to it if necessary.
If you haven’t already done so, now would be a good time to ensure that your voice mail message is professional. And, if you have roommates, be sure that you have worked out a satisfactory system for making sure that important messages are written down correctly and delivered in a timely manner.
Before the scheduled phone interview,
- Research the company and the position. Make sure you can expertly respond to the question, “why are you interested in my company and why this position.”
- Take a test run! Have a friend, family member, or an advisor within our office, conduct a mock interview over the phone--are you speaking too loudly? too softly? are your words being clearly understood? This small bit of preparation can go a long way to helping you enhance your phone interview.
- Just as you would for a face-to-face interview, practice your responses to “typical” questions. For a list of sample questions, see our Behavioral Interviewing handout which can be found in our office or on our website.
- Clear your area of any distractions; this means your friends, loud music, TV, etc.
- Pour yourself a glass of water to keep nearby in case your mouth gets dry.
During the Phone Interview:
- Don’t worry if, at times, the conversation feels awkward or a bit stilted. This is to be expected and the recruiter certainly understands the complexities involved with a phone interview.
- It is not uncommon for both parties to begin speaking at the same time. If this happens, simply say excuse me and invite the interviewer to continue.
- Be enthusiastic. You cannot use your expressions, body language, or eye contact to show your interest, you will have to do this through your words. Sometimes, the simple act of standing up, smiling during your conversation can be extremely helpful.
- Don’t ramble! The conversation should feel like a dialogue with you, the interviewee, speaking slightly more than the interviewer.
- Try to avoid words like um, uh, like and okay.
- Have a pen and paper handy to take notes. Information to gather might be: skills or attributes the company is seeking, a more detailed job description, and training and development programs.
- If your call-waiting should beep during the conversation, do not answer it.
- Just as you would in a face-to-face interview, be sure to ask approximately three thoughtful questions at the end of the conversation. For a list of appropriate questions, please refer to the Behavioral Interviewing handout.
- Upon completion of the conversation, thank the interviewer for his or her time and reiterate your keen interest in the position. Make sure you have acquired the name (along with proper spelling), title and address of the interviewer so that you may later send a timely thank you note.
- Be sure that you are clear on what happens next. This can be as simple as your inquiring, “Can you please let me know what the next steps in the process will be?”
After the Interview:
- Once the interview is finished, take notes about what you were asked and your various responses. This will give you a chance to refine and practice your answers for future interviews.
- Follow up with a handwritten thank you note (grammatically correct and absent of any misspellings) reiterating your interest in the job along with some of your key qualities.
This handout has been adapted from EmergingTech.com and the About.com site by Alison Doyle.
