When you're invited for a telephone interview, it's just as important to prepare as it is to get ready for an in-person job interview. Take a look at our how to prepare for a telephone interview video to make sure you pull off your phone interview without any glitches.
Also keep in mind that phone interview etiquette and how you handle yourself during the intervievw matters, too. That's because, regardless of how the interview is conducted, a sucessful interview will move you along in the hiring process.
Review phone interview etiquette tips, including phone interview techniques, advice including how to prepare for a phone interview, and phone interview questions and answers, so you can ace the interview and move along in the hiring process.
Related: Phone Interview Tips | Phone Interview Q & A | Phone Interview Do's and Don'ts
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The key to any interview is to take subtle control of the interview. This is equally true for both on the phone and in-person interviews. Most phone interviews are screening interviews with the primary objective to screen you out. Your mission is to get by the screener and get to that decision maker. Typically the interviewer will have a list of questions with expected answers. You must be polite to the screener but remember his or her mission is to find a reason to disqualify you as it is not unusual he or she will be screening a number of candidates and the objective is simply to check off the responses as acceptable or not.
Taking control is simple. After the first few questions, which will be more to set the agenda, you will want to ask questions that the screener will probably not have answers to. Such as “What was it about my resume/background that caught your attention?” or “What does the company expect the successful candidate to accomplish over the next 6-12 months?” You do not ask them one after another but intersperse them within the conversation. Most often the screener will indicate that these are best answered by the hiring manger. Your only response should be “Given the importance of these could we set a time that I could meet with the hiring manger to discuss them in detail? Most screeners are not seasoned interviewers and will most often set the interview up as long as your resume seems to meet the basic requirements.
Having worked with many senior HR personnel as career transition clients, I have never had any one indicate it was not a unique strategy that would most often get by a candidate through the screening and on to a meeting with the decision maker. Try it, you have nothing to lose as you can always work with the screener if the screener insists on a full interview but typically just the fact that you have asked key need identification questions will tip the decision in your favor.
Here’s a lesser-known tip from some corporate recruiters that meshes with my long experience in public speaking and elocution…
During the interview, stand up. This can help you project more forcefully and energetically than if you sit. Telephone interviews have the disadvantage of taking away your ability to project your personality through gestures and facial expressions. This is a way to reduce that handicap a bit.