Phone InterviewI have a phone interview this week and am really nervous about it. I am wondering if anyone has advice on phone interview etiquette and any other advice relating to phone interviews. This job is also out of state - I am on the west coast, and this job is on the east coast, so that will also have an impact on my answers I' m sure. Phone interviews are typically initial screens and fairly brief. They will be looking for obvious disqualifies like poor communication ability. Your best course of action is to do as much research on the company and its business as possible. Make notes to yourself about how you can help the company succeed. Re-read the ad you responded to, your cover letter and your resume after you' ve done your research to identify why you think they want to give you a telephone screen. Make sure to do some research on where the company is located, too. They could well ask you why you think you would like to move to the East Coast. Now for the hard part - don' t obsess on any of this stuff! The things to remember are to speak clearly and enunciate. Exercise patience and wait for the other person to finish speaking before you begin to answer. Try to answer questions succinctly, accurately and with a touch of warmth, if possible. Using a brief story as an example often works very well for this. Other posters in this forum have lots of additional information about how to handle these things, so make sure to carve out a little time and look things over. Phone interviews can be hard if you concentrate on the fact that you cannot see the other person' s body language and facial expressions. Practice not saying "um" and "ah" while you give your answers. If you are the person who says "like" and "you know" after every other word, you probably want to be conscious of that as well. I generally had to sit on my hands during a face to face interview, but with a phone interview at least I had one hand I could throw around. Don' t put your phone on speaker because, unfortunately, you will sound distant and like you are talking threw a tin can. Research the company via the Internet and even, if possible, have the company' s website on your computer screen as you are talking to the interviewer. You may be able to navigate the site to provide more comprehensive answers if the interviewer asks you something that would likely be out of the grand scheme of things and you need some information to back up the question. Don' t pace up and down the living room but find a comfortable spot on the end of the couch or a comfortable chair in front of the computer. Keep your house as quiet as possible. (no kids talking) Keep your answers as succinct as you would have if this were a face to face interview. You may need to add more explanation to some things but just a few words. When during the interview, you notice the long pauses from the interviewer, don' t panic. It isn' t you, the interviewer is probably just making notes. The silence wouldn' t be as noticeable if you were face to face. Don' t let it rattle you. And, remember, the interviewer cannot see you either. He/she has to judge you on tone of voice rather than sight so put a smile in your voice and when you answer don' t use a monotone voice (which is easy to do). | |
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Career Tips
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