Career Advice: Telephone Interview Tips

Employers regard the telephone as an effective time management tool as it is easier to get straight to the point on the phone and sift through candidates quickly rather than go through a lengthy interview process. Your aim is to get to a face to face interview, so all you have to do is convince the employer that they won't be wasting their time by meeting you in person. Here are some top telephone tips...

Be Ready for Calls and Interviews

If you've made the effort to apply for a job, it makes sense to do your research and find out about the company you've applied to work for. The employer may start talking about the company or indeed ask you what you know about them and if they do then you need to be ready to impress them with your knowledge.

Manage your Environment

You can virtually guarantee that when that all important call comes, it will happen at the worst possible moment. If you're surrounded by screaming kids or barking dogs then it's important to make sure you sound cool, calm and collected: "Thanks for calling, would you wait a moment until I close the door?".� This gives you the opportunity to calm yourself, take a few deep breaths, organise any paperwork and generally put yourself back in control of both yourself and the situation.
If you're busy with something that makes it a bad time for a call, say so straight away and arrange a time for you to call them back. This will work out much better for you as it gives you more time to prepare and allows you to carry out the interview in a comfortable environment of your choosing.

Join in the Conversation

Sounds strange, but you'd be surprised how many telephone interviews go wrong through a lack of participation on the part of the candidate. Allow the person calling to lead the conversation, but make sure you show your interest by keeping up your end. This is especially important when the interviewer talks a lot and doesn't give you the openings you need to sell yourself. In these situations it's always good to have a few questions ready to give you the upper hand...

1."What are the major responsibilities in this job?"
2. "What are the biggest challenges the department faces and what would be my role as a team member/leader in tackling them?"
3. "Which projects will I most be involved in?"
4. "What type of training is required and how long is it? What type of training is available?"

Answering Questions

Be careful about giving yes/no answers as they give no real information about your abilities and do nothing to forward your agenda. At the same time, don't waffle; your answers need to be concise. If you need time to think about your answer then say so, don't just open up with the first thing that comes into your head.

Avoid at all Costs

1. Make sure you aren't eating, smoking or chewing gum when you're talking on the telephone. The interviewer will almost definitely hear it and will no doubt influence the opinion that they're forming of you.
2. Do not ask about salaries or holidays. Your only objective at this point is to get a face to face interview, money is not an issue. If the interviewer asks you how much you're earning at the minute then be honest and tell them. On the other hand, if you are asked how much money you want, it's a good idea to answer that you don't really know enough about the company or the job to answer that question.

Remember...

A little flattery goes a long way: admire a company's achievements, comment on areas of mutual interest and agree with the interviewer whenever possible - people usually tend to hire people like themselves.