Phone Interview: Be Prepared to Stand Out!

By Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter

Almost all companies save time and energy by conducting preliminary phone interviews before spending hours evaluating applicants. Frankly, they do it because it’s a good way to save the team time interviewing people who are clearly not qualified. From your perspective, this means you need to develop additional interviewing skills.

One of the disadvantages of having a phone interview is that they can’t see how you look, or how nice the suit you wore to the interview, or what a great tie you have. This also means you can sit in the comfort of your home without having to make the trip to their website. With this opportunity, the problem arises. The main problem is that they can’t see how you look or what nice clothes you have. All they can do is listen to your voice and the energy you convey, and hear the answers to your questions; on the other hand, you can’t see when you’ve lost their attention, or when you’ve bored them. Neither of you have any visual cues.

But with preparation, you can do really well and get in the door. Here are some tips.

1. As with any interview, visit the company’s website and learn about the company. Also, if you can read the job specifications on their website (or elsewhere), please do so. After all, the specifications are the roadmap by which they will assess your abilities.

2. Take some notes to remind yourself of points you may want to make or things you may have forgotten. Sometimes people get nervous, just like they do when they’re face to face. Keep a few notes about your role, responsibilities, and accomplishments nearby as helpful reminders. Support your statements with detailed examples of accomplishments whenever possible. Remember, they can’t see if you’ve opened a manual that might be a little rusty! They can’t see your resume right in front of you!

3. Rehearse. Have someone call you and listen to your voice on the phone. Maybe your cordless phone makes your voice sound hoarse. Maybe you speak too quietly, slurred, or too fast for others to understand. Ask someone you trust to critique you.

4. Choose a place in your home (or elsewhere) where the kids won’t disturb you or the TV won’t make noise in the background. If you’re interviewing out of town, choose a location with no distractions. When I was still recruiting, I hated interviewing people who had music streaming in the background (this happens more often than you think).

5. Write down their questions so you can capture the main points. Many times, people forget the original question and talk about something far away. Stay on target.

6. Your voice is your only sales tool. Don’t let yourself appear tired or bored on the phone. Sound energized and excited, even if they’ve asked you the same questions as every other interviewer in the past six months!

7. During a phone interview, log off your computer (if you can’t completely exit instant messaging programs and other ringing services), which can disrupt your concentration when you need it most.

8. Did I mention, rehearse. rehearse. rehearse. I must emphasize that you need to practice phone interviews just as you would for an in-person interview.

9. Stay where you know your cell phone signal is strong.

10. Be polite and try not to outspeak the interviewer or interrupt them. If you do, apologize and let the interviewer continue.

11. Don’t hang up the phone until the interviewer has hung up.

Follow these pointers and I’m sure you’ll do better in your interview.

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