The candidate scheduled for a job phone interview
needs to be just as on top of his or her game as the
candidate called into an in person interview. That’s
because many interviewers use the job phone interview
as a screening mechanism for deciding whether or not
to grant an in person, or “real” interview. Typically,
a job interview is scheduled for the phone during
situations when the candidate is neither obviously
qualified or unqualified for the position based on his
or her resume. In cases like this, the interviewer
does not want to spend his or her valuable business
day on an interview that could take hours of time.
Instead he or she will agree to a phone interview that
will last fifteen or twenty minutes, then decide
whether or not to follow that up with an in-person
interview later.
For this reason, the job phone interview should tend
to focus on the technical and experience portions of
the candidate’s background. In essence, the
interviewer is trying to decide if the person has the
bare minimum technical competence over the phone. If
the answer to that question is yes, then the
interviewer will seek to discover more about their
personal attributes and characteristics in person. If
the answer to that question is no, then the
interviewer will not have wasted a full interview spot
on the candidate. For that reason, if you have a phone
interview, it’s your duty to prep yourself to deal
with this technical probing with competence and
confidence.
Job Phone Interview Secrets Continued...
The secret to the job phone interview is to discover
in advance what the interviewer will talk about and
prepare answers on that topic. This is usually easier
than it sounds. After all, the interviewer isn’t
likely to ask you about football scores and pony
riding techniques or any other random subject. He or
she will focus most intently on your technical skills
at the job in question and the experience you bring to
the job. All of the company’s desired skills and
experience can be discovered through research, both
online and in person by asking people familiar with
the job and company. Once you get a clear idea of what
the interviewer is going to ask, you can begin
formulating your experience in ways that will be the
most persuasive and convincing for him or her.
If you have been working in a similar job already,
this part of the phone job interview should be easy
for you. You know what the most important skills and
results are to the target opening, and should have
some good examples of achieving those already. Try to
have some good anecdotes and examples ready to go, in
which you analyze a problem, take action and deliver
valued results. If possible, make the story you tell
as similar as possible to the situation at the target
company. Hearing you speak about your results and
achievements in a similar arena will give the
interviewer the assurance that you are technically
ready to have an in person interview.
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