How to ace a phone interview

While there’s nothing that beats a face-to-face meeting, a phone interview can help surmise, without the expense, whether the candidate meets the minimum qualifications for the job and thus there is less bias than in a face-to-face interview. I don’t have the luxury of being able to read body language, but I sure like meeting with people. When I interview, I want it to be about my credentials, my verbal and written communication abilities, and my ability to be the right fit for the organization (be able to get along with others, be a great fit, and be highly dependable). I think there’s definitely more room for bias in a face to face interview than in a phone interview; being able to judge someone by tone of voice when sommeone is not on their guard is much easier than when you have to read whether someone’s telling the truth when they’re more guarded. As the interviewer, I’m more concerned with whether a person’s answers are consistent than if they constantly make eye contact, since some people are great “fakers” and those people waste the company time & money. Training costs are steep and the company cannot afford to take on a person who is unable or unwilling to learn and adapt to the company.

What would my pet peeves be as an interviewer? A person who had the experience, but not the computer knowledge to do the job or a person who felt they could rely on their experience and didn’t need to learn further. I think attitude is one of the most important characteristics to being a great employee as are great interpersonal skills and great communication skills. As an interviewer, I might want to bring up about politics, not to find out if they are a liberal or conservative (I don’t care either is okay), but to see if they resent me asking it in the first place. That very resentment, if any, would be a reason not to hire them. I want someone who can be truthful and who’s not going to be a liability to my company. A person who has high-energy and who cares about others (compassion) would be my top choice as long as they had the credentials and experise to do the job. In my opinion, the expertise to do the job is extremely important as the experience can be learned. I mean, you have to get your experience from somewhere, but there’s nothing that can subsitute for a bad attitude.

As many of you may already know from my opening paragraph, I personally have Asperger’s Syndrome (AS). My strengths involve great verbal & written communication skills, great multi-tasking, and compassion towards others. I am also highly dependable, like a varied environment (like being with people/teams and like working individually but prefer to mix it up and not have one or the other), and have an obsession with being able to save & invest my money. I’m loyal, like to build relationships, and can conform to company rules very well. Lastly, I have a high level of goodwill so I’m not afraid to stay late and/or come in early to help out another member, and in doing so, learn more as you can learn alot through teaching. I think one of the most frustrating things about interviewing is the over-emphasis on nonverbal communication. I feel that if you put me in a team, I’d fit in just fine. It takes a little getting used to, but I’m very good at active listening and helping the team complete the project. I love to lead and I love when I persuade someone to my point of view or when by following another person’s viewpoint, we succeed. While I don’t like failure, I learn & grow from it and enjoy taking on new challenges, especially when I suceed thereafter. I find the comments interesting. I think people don’t realize that individuals with AS focus on picking up a lot of skills because we choose relationships when we know we’ll succeed with them. In a fast-paced setting, some people (those with high-energy, in particular) can do quite well. For me, a fast-paced environment allows me to channel my energy into my work; something that I find very rewarding is being able to use that energy to help the company in some manner or another. It is my hope that I will be able to get ahead that way. I think one of my biggest pet peeves is when I’m told that I’m best for a back-office environment as I’ve had successful customer experiences and just because I am not good at sales doesn’t mean that I’m not good at providing customers excellent customer service and great followup. I like in-bound stuff because that’s about customer retention and fabulous service. As I learned in marketing, it costs more to attract new customers (much of the time) than it does to keep existing customers satisfied.

I have given 300 phone interviews over the last 3 years. I disagree that the purpose of the interview is to eliminate candidates. We are always hungry for talent. Most good interviewers are trying to give you every opportunity to succeed. I always start with the presumption you are a star. I know how stressful interviewing is (especially on the phone), and want to help you do your best.

Turn-off: cell-phones and interviews from your car. I will happily reschedule the interview. I always ask if I can call back on a land-line.

Turn-off: People who don’t listen, and don’t answer a question. Especially people who are in a hurry to tell you how great they are, that they forgot my question, such as “where are you working now?”.

The most common reason a person fails, however, is they don’t have the skills to succeed… even though they sell themselves well, and have a good resume. Experience and intellegence are hard to fake. And fakers are easy to spot.

I was interviewed over the phone and hired sight unseen. That cuts both ways; I had to make a decision about relocating without having met anyone I would be working with or seeing the area.

It seems obvious, but one key question to ask is “Who will I be reporting to?” It may not be the person doing the interviewing. When I arrived, I knew who my manager would be, even though it wasn’t official for another two weeks. I spent a lot of those first days with the company talking with my eventual manager, and was promoted into his position as soon as he moved up.

I would like to emphasize the point about using a land line. With more companies using VoIP (voice over IP) the combination of potential jitter and lost packets because of VoIP, with the static and issues of cell, the ‘conversation’ can become impossible.

If you must use a cell phone, make sure it is fully charged and you have a good signal in the area. Quiet space on your end is crucial, cafe’s are out. I conducted several phone screen interviews from my car in the parking lot at my current job. Private, quiet. Just had to keep any eye out for my current employer!

I was interviewed over the phone once & yeh it went well & I got the job.

During one phone interview I had, the Company Rep was explaining aspects of the position and how it would operate within the firm (it was a new post). As he talked, I realized that I was nodding my head– as I would have in a face to face interview– to indicate that I understood their direction, etc. When he finally finished, he then posed a question for me to answer– so I laughlingly said something like “I have been nodding in agreement while you were talking,” and then proceeded to address his question.

I think you missed a great tip on preparing for the phone interview.

Many, many interviewers use some variation of a behavioral interview - “tell me about a time when” questions. Before your interview, make a long list of all the things that you’ve done at work in the last six - twelve months that you’re really proud of. Keep it high level, but bullet a few key points under each that highlight details that showed how you demonstrated teamwork, leadership, initiative, etc. The list can be pages long, but you should be able to refer to it quickly.

When you get the interview questions over the phone, quickly scan the list for the best example you have. Then, be sure to hit the bullets under the items.

At the end, you’ll pick your best examples from a list you’ve already prepared. You won’t forget that “perfect” answer because you’ve got it right in front of you. It’s like an “open book” interview.

Good timing. I just had a phone interview yesterday.

As with any interview, try to anticipate some of the questions. Put your responses in an outline form and use it while on the phone. Also take notes while on the phone. Take advantage of the fact that they can’t see you.

I once went to the bathroom while being interviewed over the phone. Of course I was discreet and the interviewer never knew. The secret is not to flush until after the call.

I got the job!

I absolutely agree that you should try to schedule the phone interview when you can use a land line, preferably from home where you won’t be interrupted and where the interviewer won’t be distracted by outside noise. If you must use your cell phone at a cafe near your current office, apologize for any possible interruptions.

Although phone interviews can be challenging, they are also a great tool to find out more about the position before coming in for an in-person interview (which can take up to 90 minutes, taxi fare, added stress, etc.). I have been interviewing a lot recently, and I have had about 5 phone interviews. After 3, I realized that I didn’t even want to come in for an in-person interview. I was able to ask direct questions about the company, the position, and salary range. If I didn’t get the answers I was looking for, I said thank you very much and was glad not to have wasted more than 20 minutes of my time.

Also, take notes during phone interviews! They will come in handy when you are preparing for the in-person interview.

A job I’ve had 20 years was based on all phone interviews (technical position). I was going to appear the first day with dark glasses and a cane, though that would have been very not p.c.

I disagree with some of the points in the article “How to ace a phone interview”. Fist questions about salary should be handled prior to any interview. One of the first tactics I have used is to get the other guy to say their number first. No sense in having a phone interview if the salary range is well below your current level. Also, the notion that in the questions stage of the interview you should ask for a face to face interview is, in my opinion, to harsh. Rather, restating a condensed “elevator speech” and stating that you are interested in taking this process to the next level will likely prompt the interviewer to tell you of the next steps. It has always worked like a charm for me.

I frequently screen candidates via phone interviews. It’s a quick process that saves time on both sides.

As an interviewer, I can’t stress enough the importance of knowing about the company you’re applying to. You don’t have to know about the position - you may not have been told much, after all - but it’s *critical* to know about the company, it’s products/services, etc.

I even had one candidate that was conferenced in by a recruiter who didn’t even know what company she was talking to! That’s only happened once, but I would say that 50% of the time the candidates have no idea what my company does.

What that says to me is that you can’t be bothered to spend the five minutes it takes to go on my company’s website and take a look. You don’t have to do in-depth research, just spend 5 or 10 minutes before you get on the phone.

The important concept to transfer to the interviewer is that you are interested in the company, and not just looking to get a job.

I do freelance work and because I am sometimes in another city I find the telephone interview works well. I make sure I have researched the propective business and know as much as possible what the job entails. If there is interest a face-to-face meeting is always arranged before Icommit to a 6month to one year assignment. I can usually tell on the phone interview something about the type of person I will be working with and whether I can offer a solution to their problem.

I just recently hired 60 - 70 people using phone interviews. They were prescreened by our recruiting dept. so I was saved some grief. The appearance/hygiene issues were the big problems. We had no final face to face interviews. A few turned out to be (not what I had hoped). The majority were good at their jobs, though. A face to face after the phone interview would have changed my decision on sveral of them.

I have had the chance to take part in many job interviews over the phone. I totally agree with you that there are two things which are absolutely essential 1/ a good phone line (always a land line) and 2/ a quiet room where no one can disturb you and you can think freely.

One of the things that I will like to add is that it becomes very difficult in a phone interview to manage the long pauses and not know when to stop and when to begin. So a good ploy will be to always take some time before replying to a question and arranging your thoughts nicely and present them.

Another thing is to always politely ask what the question was before replying. You definitely do not want a “Miss North Carolina” incident over a phone interview where you misinterpret the question and give a very stupid reply.

As someone who does a lot of interviewing, I find the phone interview to be a very valuable tool in the screening process. It eliminates most bias/prejudice/discrimination from the process since all you likely have to go on is a resume. Also, a phone interview is less intimidating and eliminates much of the nervousness of an in-person interview, enabling the candidate to loosen up and be more themsleves. This carries over to the in-person interview becuase by the time you bring them in they are somewhat comfortable with you.