HELP! Telephone InterviewI am scheduled for a telephone interview next week for a position with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Department of the Treasury. I have never been involved with a telephone interview before. Can anyone shed any light on them. What type of questions...etc etc
Phone interviews I've done in the past have been very similar to in-person interviews. I'm asked similar types of questions, although with a phone interview I find many of those questions to be more general. I think the one big key to phone interviews is to listen really carefully and to try not to interrupt the interviewer. I agree. Just treat it like you would an in-person interview. I usually feel more relaxed over the phone, and have even had people tell me they were going to bring me in for an in-person interview because they liked my personality, my voice, and the way I handled myself over the phone. If you' re on a speaker phone on their end, be sure to take a breath from time to time. It works like a 2 way radio, one way at a time. Search through Monster' s articles on telephone interviews for tips too. The questions themselves will usually be rather routine and not difficult to answer. The TRICK with a phone interview is projecting your PERSONALITY and ENTHUSIASM even though the person CANNOT see you. ALL you have to communicate with is your voice. My tips:
1. Stand up rather than sitting down while you' re on the phone. Your voice will AUTOMATICALLY sound fuller, richer and friedlier. 2. Try to MATCH the pace (or speed) of your words with the pace of the interviewers words. So, if they are a bit of a "fast" talker, speed up the pace of your own words a bit. If, on the other hand, they speak more slowly than you would usually speak, try to slow down a bit. EVERYONE unconsciously feels MORE comfortable when someone is speaking at relatively the SAME pace as they are, ESPECIALLY when you are on the phone and your voice is the only way you have to convey information. 3. Vary the pitch (in other words the high tones and low tones) of your voice a bit. If your voice sounds flat, they will conclude that perhaps you are not that enthusiastic or interested in the job. They may also conclude that you' re not an energetic person. Every employer wants to hire a person who is qualified AND EXCITED about the job, so don' t let your voice fall flat. Vary the tone a bit and let it go high or low. You' ll sound BOTH excited and EXCITING and the interviewer will sense the warmth in your voice. I wanted to stop in and say thank you to everyone for their suggestions. I had my interview yesterday afternoon and it went well. The call lasted about an hour. After wards he spent a period of time answering my questions about the agency and the position, which was a great help. He provided me with a tentative timeline, and said that I should hear about the next step in late March. | |
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