Acing the Telephone Interview

Part One

While your goal for a telephone interview is to turn it into a face-to-face meeting, the employer is determined to save time and weed out as many candidates as possible. It is much quicker to get someone on and off the telephone, than it is to get them in and out of the office. Clearing telephone interview hurdle is a critical challenge.

A telephone interview can happen unexpectedly in the midst of uneventful networking calls, as the result of a resume/CV sent out weeks ago, or even as the result of a short phone conversation from the other afternoon. Telephone interviews are going to occur frequently during your job search.

Whichever jobs search initiative generates a telephone interview, you must think and act clearly to turn the opportunity into the real thing—a face-to-face meeting; how you perform will determine whether you move ahead or bite the dust.

Perhaps the most important consideration about telephone interviews is that the employer has only ears with which to judge you. If the call comes unexpectedly, and screaming kids or barking dogs surround you, stay calm, sound positive, friendly, and collected: "Thank you for calling, Mr. Wooster, would you wait just a moment while I close the door?" You can then easily take a minute to calm yourself, call up the company website and get your paperwork organized without causing offense. If you need to move to another phone, say so, otherwise put the caller on hold, take a few controlled, deep breaths to slow down your pounding heart, put a smile on your face (it improves the timbre of your voice), and pick up the phone again. Now you are in control of yourself and the situation.

If you are heading out the door for an interview or some other emergency makes this a bad time for an unexpected incoming call, say so straight away and re-schedule, "I'm just heading out the door for an appointment Ms Bassett, can we schedule a time when I will call you back?" Beware of over-familiarity, you should always refer to the interviewer by his or her surname until invited to do otherwise.

Allow the company representative to guide the conversation—and to ask most of the questions, but keep up your end of the conversationby asking a few questions of your own, it is after all, a sales presentation for you. This is especially important when the interviewer does not give you the openings you need to sell yourself, always have a few intelligent questions prepared to save the situation—for example, the following questions will give you an excellent idea of why the position is open, and exactly the kind of skilled professional the company will eventually hire,

"What are the three major responsibilities in this job?"

"What will be the first project(s) I tackle?"

"What are the biggest challenges the department faces this year and what will be my role as a team member in tackling them?"

"Which projects will I be most involved with during the first six months?"

"Who succeeds in this job and why?"

"Who fails in this job and why?"

More advice on acing telephone interviews...

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