Phone Interviews
February 23rd, 2007 by Jennine
These are by far the easiest of interviews I feel simply because you can relax in your office or home. Others don’t find it as comfortable as a face to face interview as you can’t see the body language of those who are doing the interview.
To make the process less confusing try the following tips:
Research
Use your research to your advantage by making notes and pinning them around the room you will be using for the interview. They can be simple dot points highlighting your skills, key words that you want to use or that will trigger more information for your responses.
Speech
Make sure you speak slowly and concisely. Of course don’t go overboard and say one word a second but speak at a normal rate and try not to rush. Don’t use long or complicated words that may not be easy to understand. Also, definitely do not eat or drink while you are on the phone. You would be surprised by the number of people who do this as they think that the person on the other end won’t know.
Clarification
As per a normal interview, if there is something you are unsure of do not hesitate to ask for them to repeat it or rephrase it. You need to know what they are asking and they need to know that you are hearing the question accurately. Another idea is to paraphrase their question just to ensure that you know what they are asking of you.
Smile
This may sound strange but you can hear a smile over the phone. If you are grumpy or in a bad mood this will be picked up by the interviewers, however, if you are smiling you sound cheerful and positive which makes you look good. Furthermore, a smile makes you feel happier and more confident even if you are feeling nervous.
So in short a phone interview is like a normal interview, but over the phone. It can be made easier by having research notes located everywhere. Most companies will fax through a list of questions prior to the interview so you know what they are asking. This will assist in tailoring your responses to their questions. If they don’t offer, don’t be too shy to ask if they will fax through the questions as there is nothing gained if you don’t ask, they might not have thought to offer that service to interviewees. This will show initiative at the very least.
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