The Art Of The Phone Interview: 5 Tips to make you a better phone Interviewee

The phone interview is a more common practice today than it has ever been most companies use it to screen out people they want to bring in for a face-to-face interview. It is more common to do a 15 minute to 1-hour phone interview these days than ever, everyone knows to be prepared for a face-to-face interview and there is a wealth of information regarding interview preparation on the Internet. However, there is very little information regarding how to handle the phone interview. We are going to provide you with five helpful tips to make sure you get past that first interview:

1) Be sure to schedule the interview when you are in a quiet place and where you can have time to focus on the interview. Make sure, if you are doing it on your cell make sure that you have adequate cell signal strength so you do lose the call in the middle of the interview. Background noises when doing a phone interview can really make you lose that potential face-to-face interview. Always try to set a time but if you cannot or if they call unexpectedly do your best to find a quite place or ask them if you call them back when you can to a more appropriate venue to do the interview.

Make sure you are psychologically prepared as well nothing can kill an interview like a person who sounds like they are half-asleep or having a bad day over the phone. Block all bad thoughts out and make sure you are conveying the sunniest personality possible over the phone. All bad things that have happened so far in the day have to be put aside and you have to put your best foot forward even on a phone interview.

2) Know your employment history and background by heart when actively looking for a job you always have to be prepared to discuss your experience and work history make sure you carry a copy of your resume with you at all times so when you do receive the call you know what your talking about.

3) Be as prepared as possible for the interview do as much research on the company as possible you can go to their website or go to websites like DNB or Hoovers to get an idea of how big the company and who the management is. Too much information about a company is better than too little. Make sure you ask questions that revolve around the research you have done on the company. Be prepared for questions about your motivation for leaving your current, any gaps on your resume, why you are interested in the company, why you would be a good hire. You may also ask questions that revolve around the companies’ interview process or business plans, how many interviews do you require before an offer is made? What the companies’ immediate and long-term plans for growth. It shows that you are interested in a long-term relationship and that you are interested in what is going on with your potential employer, although you should already know, a lot about the company just from the research you have done.

4) Be prepared with a firm time and date when you can come in for an interview always have your schedule book near you when doing these interviews. You want to make sure you can strike while the iron is hot. Have at least three dates in mind for when you have adequate time to do a face to face.

5) At the end of the phone screen make sure to thank them for their and let them know how much you are interested in the position and how enjoyable the phone screen was. So much so that you are looking forward to meeting them.

The phone interview is quickly becoming the preferred method of screening candidates and it is the first door you are going to have to walk through in order to get the job you want. One misstep could keep you from you obtaining the job of your dreams.

Be Prepared.

Here are some additional resources for review so you can be your best, review these two additional resources to help you ace that phone interivew .

Jobpharm: 7 tips for on how to handle a phone interview

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