Preparation, practice key to phone interviews
Preparation, practice key to phone interviews
Forget the dark blue suit in today’s job market. Pajamas might be the norm when interviewing with a company. That is, when the first interview is conducted over the phone.
Phone interviews are used as time-saving tools for employers who are seeking to narrow a field of candidates for a particular job. They are also a way for a company to save on travel costs with out-of-town candidates.
The phone interview is different from the typical face-to-face interview because candidates are not able to connect with the interviewer in the same way, in particular noting nonverbal communication signals. But interviewing over the phone can also offer candidates an advantage.
"You can take notes and organize your thoughts without the interviewer seeing how you’re processing," says Jane Walter, president of Career Development Consultants in Greensboro. The first key to success with a phone interview is being prepared. Vivian Lutian, a career counselor at the Guilford College career development center, says the first "question" in most phone interviews is usually "tell me about yourself." Tony Abbruzzi, assistant director of UNCG’s Career Services Center, calls this "the killer question because so many people bomb it."
Candidates often start off on the wrong foot by responding to the question with a rambling discourse of personal details that have no relevance to the job. Lutian recommends candidates have a "two-minute drill" prepared in response that outlines four key points: applicable training and skills; a brief history of the candidate’s work; significant accomplishments; and finally something unique about yourself.
"This last point is important because you want the employer to remember you when he or she sits around a table discussing candidates with others," Lutian says. If you play in a rock band, have a knack for gourmet cooking or have traveled to someplace exotic recently, now is the time to mention it. After preparing a two-minute drill, Lutian recommends practicing it until it’s committed to memory. "Once the two-minute drill is memorized you can start off your interview smoothly and skillfully," she says. Practice in front of a mirror or with friends to ensure that your delivery is relaxed and energetic.
Making sure you are in a place where you can focus on the conversation is also crucial to success. If a recruiter calls you to talk and you are walking your dog or in a restaurant, make sure you are honest with them, telling the recruiter it isn’t a good time to talk and arranging for a more convenient time.
"Candidates are very anxious and we may call them and it’s just not a good time," says Waddell Sheppard, a recruiting consultant with Wachovia. "We understand that."
Sheppard says that honesty is much more important than trying to have a distracted conversation in a location that doesn’t allow a candidate to be at their best. Before the phone interview, candidates should turn off the television and radio, put the dog outside and prepare to focus. There are two types of phone interviews that are most common. The first, the screening call, is typically made by a recruiter to sort through a large amount of applicants, with a goal of winnowing down the number of candidates.
The second type is the more detailed behavioral interview, which involves asking candidates about theoretical workplace situations and how he or she might respond. Career specialists agree that it is important for a candidate to understand what kind of interview he or she is scheduling to allow for the right preparation. To prepare for the behavioral interview, Lutian recommends candidates "do your homework by drawing up scenarios at home, based on things you’ve done at other jobs." She also recommends putting specific incidents in story form to help an interviewer remember it more easily.
No matter what type of interview, it is important for candidates to engage the interviewer in a conversation.
"I like to remind candidates that this is nothing more than a conversation between two adults about a job opportunity that one of them has," Abbruzzi says. Candidates should remember that they also need to ask enough questions about the company to ensure that the company, its values and the job itself are the right fit. At the end of the interview, candidates should ask about the next steps in the process so a timeline is clear. But Lutian says the one most important point to make at the end of a phone interview is one’s attraction to the position in question.
"If you are interested in the job," says Lutian, "you should say that out loud."
