>>Your goal for a phone interview is to get an
>>in-person interview.

I hope that’s not the sole purpose people use for phone interviews.

Remember interviewing is a 2-way street. One of your goals for a phone interview should be to determine whether or not you want to work for the company in question. Ideally this is a company you have already researched and believe you would like to work at, and the phone interview will be used to establish the validity of your beliefs. Only if you believe there’s a match should you try to “close”.

* * * * * *

All good points, if the person doing the phone interview is the person you’d be working for. Often, though, the phone screen is done by someone else. So as long as you’ve done your research on the company and you like it, you should probably still go in for a face-to-face interview and meet the hiring manager. Ask you questions of that person.

Penelope

Here’s what I’ve done in the past - (should I not be writing it here - to ‘maintain a clean netprint’)?

First, I ensure that I am taking phone interviews from home. For as many topics/questions as possible (and which are more commonly asked), I prepare bullet point printouts. I clear the floor, and sit in the middle. Then, I place all these prints all around me. Now, if a question related to any of these is asked, and I don’t remember it - it’s right in front of my eyes.

Mean? Cheating? Maybe. But it works.

Of course, this works best for technical interviews. Additionally, if you don’t know the concepts behind the bullet points, it can easily blow up in your face - the interviewer will know that you are “reading off a paper”. So it’s best to use these cheat sheets just as memory triggers/refreshers.

* * * * *
This seems like fair game to me, and good advice as well. Like thinking of the phone interview as an open-book test.

–Penelope

As someone who got his first job via a phone interview (and, subsequently, did a fair amount of interviewing over the phone for that first firm), I would add two points:

1. Smile when you dial. It is amazing how much smiling can influence the tone that is projected over the phone lines. When you smile, the person at the other end can hear it. This is a subtle, but critical, component of a phone interaction where the only cues available to the interviewer are auditory.

2. Give concise and well-structured answers/responses to interviewers (addition to Penelope’s point #4). This is true for in-person interviews, but even more important for phone interviews. For an interviewer, not many things are worse than a long-winded job candidate over the phone. If the interviewer is interested in more detail, he/she will ask. Of course, there are always exceptions, which is where the well-structured part comes in–it shows analytics and direction in your story. (i.e. “top three things I learned in this experience…” or “this was good for two reasons…”)

* * * * *

Yes. Two more good pieces of advice. Thanks for adding these, Emile.

Having gone through a phone interview just last week, I’m still running the tape in my head to figure out what I could have done better.

The biggest challenge in a phone conversation is conveying the messages without any non-verbal cues. Majority of our conversation is done non-verbally, so not being able to use it in an interview leaves a lot of ground to cover. All the steps mentioned in the post are important becuase a lot more organization is needed to convey the same message without visual verification and confirmations.

My suggestion would be to pay extra attention to the sounds that might convey more emotion, both when you are talking and when you are listening. Any change in tone, or volume, has a lot more significance in a phone interview.

There’s also a tendency to rush during a phone interview becuase the situation is not as personal as an in person interview. Use the “tell me about yourself” question to calm your nerves, use some ice breakers, and make it a conversation instead of 20 questions game that’s timed like a chess game.

And of course, at the end, run the tapes in your head.

Nice rundown Penelope. I wrote a similar article about phone interviews a while ago. As I’m sure you’re aware, they’re a standard first step for [pharmaceutical sales](http://pharmboard.com/ “Pharmaceutical Sales Jobs”) positions.

As the title says, the article covers [10 Keys to Mastering the Phone Interview](http://pharmboard.com/10-keys-to-mastering-the-phone-interview/ “Phone Interview”)

Oops. Guess markdown doesn’t work for links (or else I made a mistake.)

Here’s the article nonetheless…
http://pharmboard.com/10-keys-to-mastering-the-phone-interview/

Walking around while speaking is indeed an effective way. I think it’s a way of releasing some of our feelings of fear. It’s almost the same with hand gestures.

Penelope, great ideas, let me add a few of my own rules to get more out of your telephone interview:

Rule #1, ask the interviewer what the sequence of events is for the call this way you’ll understand what they’re looking for.

Rule #2, ask when you’ll be able to ask a few questions of your own this way if they say you won’t you can decide to not take the call [there’s real power in doing that].

Rule #3, tape your resume to the wall in front of you so it’s at eye level when you’re talking this way you can follow along with the interviewer as they dissect your work history. {Penelope is spot on when she tells you to stand. It takes pressure off your diaphragm and gives your voice more power].

Rule #4, tape your t-bar analysis next to your resume on the wall [that’s a you-need-I’ve-got dissection of the job ad.] This way you can easily relate your experience to their needs without having to appear to think about it.

Rule #5, tape the call if you can. The sales rep at Radio shack can sell you the technology for about $30 this way you can dissect your call afterwards and help prepare yourself for the next one.

- David Perry
co-author guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters

PS. Anyone who forgets to send a “thank you note” especially after Penelope pointed out the obvious will not get the offer. Thank You notes show employers you can complete a project. It’s the last step in a job hunt project — NOT a nice to do.

Are thankyou notes really a big thing in the US for interviewing? I think if anyone in the UK ever received such a thing the candidate in question would be written off as completely insincere.

If you want to show you’re keen surely a follow-up call to the person who interviewed you a couple of days later would be preferable?

I wanted to add some of the problems that I had during different telephone interviews, might become handy someday

1- Speak up, it is a sign of confidence, you don’t get to shake hands or look into their eyes, the only thing that represents you is your voice, so speak up, but don’t speak too fast, you don’t want to look nervous (I read it in that book)

2-turn off your call waiting function on your cellphone not to get distracted by the friends

3- If you are doing that at home, ask someone to watch the door or put a sign on the door “Don’t knock on this door, will be back in 2 hours”
you don’t want to be distracted by an evangelist :)

4- if your interview is like two person interviewing you in person and
there is another one on the phone, don’t stare at the phone, it is not good

5- at the very first moment, learn which voice is which, sometimes with similar voices it is hard to recognize the voices and it causes problems

6- there is a silence duration between when you are answering the
question and when they ask the next question, be patient and don’t talk too much during that time, they are making notes :)

Thanks

David Perry point out the same issue that I have. A “thank you note” seems to me a very particular usage on US hiring. The few other countries that I’ve seen (America, Europe), it’s not common.

My daughter’s college placement office advised their students to sit with a mirror visible, and to make sure to be smiling. It makes the voice sound more friendly. Makes sense to me.

Great ideas, although I don’t think that getting dressed up will not be as effective for me. I would rather go with comfortable clothes. I think that people can’t concentrate if there are things like neck tie and high hills that disturbs them.

When it comes to “Thank You Letters,” (TYL) your mileage may vary, especially in the US.

I know some who’ve gotten hired, never having written a TYL. They think a TYL represents desperation. Another set, however, view TYL’s as great displays of professional courtesy and interest in the company, its people and the job.

It can also make a difference how the TYL is written. There’s a difference between writing an unrevealing TYL done out of rote which may be best to not send versus a TYL that really makes a connection.

Even so, I’ve seen reactions vary. I’ve seen recipients respond joyfully, how good it is that someone wants to join their firm. I’ve also seen others ask, “I’ve never had to write something like this. Why is this guy trying so hard?”

One person told me a key to a good life is embracing “detachment.” If you believe your target merits a TYL, write it with your best intention, then detach, let it go. After that, building on this topic of “phone interview,” it’s their call.

I also want to be comfrotable especially in situations like these. Since nobody can see you, it’s better to be comfortable than to be annoyed by your formal clothes.

Like what Ellen said, people’s performace is affected if not comfortable.

I absolutely disagree with the thank-you note, especially if sent by snail mail. These are annoying - you saying thanks for the time doesn’t make me want to ignore your downsides, it’s simply one more piece of spam I must delete and wasted time reading. I have spoken with our other hiring managers about this and they agree.

One interesting item was a thank-you via snail mail, complete with a picture of the person who interviewed. This was downright creepy, went straight into the trash, and cancelled any chance the candidate might have had.

I recently had a phone interview and I am stressing about it constantly. I think phone interviews are hard and place you at a disadvantage because you miss out on the physical indications of whether things are going well or not. I think I laughed way too much and became too comfortable with the interviewer. Not sure how this will turn out.

I have enjoyed all of the notes so far. I am about to possibly interview for a position that I may not be “qualified” for. So, I’ve skowered this site for advice and have enjoyed reading. I completed the phone interview a week ago and, afterwards, I sent a very short emailed thank you that was specific to the call. May sound like I was kissing up but, I was AND I was grateful for her time. There were many applicants..I don’t know if I was one of many or only one of a handful that they decided to call. I think managers should allow people to show their gratefulness..that, alone, is a gift. They don’t have to respond.