Preparing for a Telephone Interview
Usually you will have no advance warning before you receive a call. You may answer the telephone perhaps expecting to hear your mother, your date, or a persistent salesperson only to find yourself speaking with a recruiter.
Consider the following suggestions to be prepared for interview calls whenever they may come:
• Keep a copy of your cover letter and resume handy.
• Keep paper and pencil near the telephone at all times.
• Be sure that everyone who answers your telephone understands you may receive an important, employment-related call at any time.
• Turn off your call waiting.
• Have company information and notes close by. Use your notes to help answer questions, but don’t read your answers; you will sound rehearsed.
Doing Well on the Telephone
All recruiters recognize that an unexpected call places some stress on the job applicant. Among other things, interviewers want to evaluate your ability to handle the situation in calm, mature manner.
• For your outgoing message on your voice mail, be sure your message is clear, concise, and reasonably businesslike.
• Respond positively. Once you realize the call relates to your job search, make every effort to put yourself into the proper frame of mind to be interviewed. If there are distracting background noises, ask the caller
for permission to leave the line while you close the door, turn off the stereo, and tell others who may be present that you have an important call or do whatever is necessary to give yourself privacy and quiet.
• If the telephone rings at a time when it truly is impossible to hold a meaningful conversation, tell the caller that although you are eager to talk, you cannot speak freely at the moment. Ask if you may call back at a mutually convenient time.
• Listen closely to everything the interviewer says. Think through your responses as carefully as you would if you were sitting across the desk from the recruiter. Remember, too, to ask the questions you want answered and take notes.
• At the conclusion of a telephone interview, the caller usually will explain what you should expect to happen next. If the interviewer fails to identify the next step, you should politely ask.
• Before the interviewer hangs up, be certain you have noted his or her first and last name, title and telephone number.
• Be sure to thank the person for calling you.
• Smile! A smile will give your voice a positive tone.
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