4 Important Phone Interview Tips To Get You Started
Phone interviews are increasingly becoming more popular with the employers to separate the wheat from the chaff at an earlier stage. In the good old days of classical economy, phone interviews were only conducted for those applying for very senior posts in the company and employers were more than eager to meet entry level candidates. Those were the days of face of face interviews. With the advent of free economy, the pool of candidates for the same posts has increased dramatically and this has forced employers to develop new methods to weed out the unsuitable and the unwanted at an earlier stage.
Here are four important phone interview tips to get you started in the right direction:
1. Use a good quality phone
This may sound basic or even silly to mention here but more often that not several job hunters miss out on this one. You will do yourself a favor by using a landline with a cord for phone interview purposes rather than using a cell phone. The reason for this is because cell phones usually vary in service based on the available signal in your area. This signal is significantly influenced by changes in weather which can make you sound pretty awful at the other end without you even realizing it in the first place. You can be sure that such an encounter won’t leave a good first impression with a prospective employer. Beware of using ten or fifteen dollar phones which you might get in your local dollar store or discount mart, for business purposes.
2. Show Enthusiasm while talking.
This is perhaps the most important of all phone interview tips. In a face to face interview you have the luxury of showing your enthusiasm through facial expressions but while talking on a phone all you can depend on is your voice. Everybody likes talking to happy and enthusiastic people who can deliver their thoughts with a passion in their voice. What this means is that you must say things in an excited manner while talking about the job for which you’ve applied.
3. Be comfortable and be yourself:
For you to sound enthusiastic on the phone, it’s very important that you feel comfortable while talking to the interviewer. For this to happen, apply the old adage of honesty being the best policy. Understand that the interviewer is trying to know you as a person and as a professional and there is nothing wrong if you do the same thing in return. In no way am I suggesting that you start interviewing the interviewer but rather there is nothing wrong with acquiring a friendly and honest tone. For this to work, you can practice the phone interview with a friend with him playing the role of an interviewer. In this mock interview you must answer all the questions as if you’re talking with the employer himself. Of all the phone interview tips out there, this is perhaps the most neglected and hence practicing through a mock interview will put you leagues ahead of other candidates applying for the same post.
4. Be ready with all the details
You must take the phone interview at an isolated place away from kids and house pets. It would be a good idea to close the door and be alone in a small room with no TV or stereo sound in the background. Be ready with a copy of submitted resume so that you remain on the same page with the interviewer. Have a paper and a pen ready in case you need to note down anything during the interview.
