The last phone interview I did was for my job at the Boston Globe. And let me just confess that I wasn’t that great in the interview, and I stressed a lot afterwards about not getting the job. But, of course, I did get the job, which I think might be evidence that I write so much about career advice that I am becoming way too hard on myself.
At any rate, I have done tons of phone interviews—on both sides of the hiring equation—so when Sia asked me to write a post on how to do a phone interview, I was surprised that I hadn’t written one already. (Although I have written a bunch about interviews.)
So, here are five tips for doing well in a phone interview:
1. Attend to your surroundings.
If you have an interview scheduled, take precautions beforehand to get in a good spot physically.
Don’t take the interview when you are at your desk and can’t talk freely. Don’t take the call when there is too much noise in the background. And don’t walk from one place to another because the breathlessness that comes from walking and talking at the same time subconsciously conveys lack of authority to someone who doesn’t know you.
If you did not schedule it beforehand, feel free to ask the interviewer if you can call back at a better time. You will not sound disinterested, but rather, you will sound concerned for managing your life by organizing your commitments.
2. Dress for the part.
Consider getting dressed up for your interview, even though no one will see you.
The emails you write to a hiring manager are different than your emails to your friends. You can’t talk to an interviewer the same way you talk with your friends. You know this, but the shift is difficult without practice. And if you are not practiced at talking about business on the phone, it’s hard to get into business mode for the call.
A way to compensate for this is to dress for an interview even though the interviewer can’t see you. In the 90s when people debated the virtues of dumping suits at the workplace in favor of business casual, there was a fair amount of research to show that people took their work more seriously when they were in a suit. That makes sense. Girls act more like a princess when they’re in a prom dress than when they’re in running shorts, and the same happens with people in work clothes.
I’m not saying you should wear a suit all the time. I’m saying that when there’s a risk of sounding too casual or unprofessional on the phone, dressing up a little can actually change how you sound.
3. Stand up.
No kidding. You’ll sound more self confident and dynamic if you stand while you speak than if you sit. Walking around a bit, but not too much, also keeps the call going smoothly. If your body is confined, your speech sounds different than if you have run of the room. It’s one reason that the best speakers walk around instead of standing in one place at the podium.
Using hand gestures is very natural for talking, so allow yourself to use them, even though you’re on the phone. You don’t have to force it. They will just come, as long as your hands are free. And you want to sound natural on the phone because authentic is more likeable. So walking around a room with a headset will actually give you the freedom to be more yourself on the call.
4. Prepare for the most obvious questions.
A resume is to get someone to pay attention to you. An in-person interview is to see if people like you. Somewhere in between those two events, people need to make sure you are qualified and you don’t have any huge red flags. So in a phone interview you can expect people to focus on those two concerns.
You will probably get questions asking you to show that you actually have the skills to accomplish the goals for the open position. Be prepared to give organized, rehearsed examples of how you have performed at work in the past in order to show your skill set.
Also, be ready for a question about the most obvious problem on your resume—often frequent job changes or big gaps in work. These are answers you should practice. Even if your answer isn’t great, a good delivery can make the difference between getting through a phone screen or not.
5. Don’t forget to close.
An interview is about selling yourself, and the best salespeople are closers. Your goal for a phone interview is to get an in-person interview. So don’t get off the phone until you have made some efforts to get to that step. Ask what the process is for deciding who to interview face-to-face. Ask for decision-making timelines, and try to find out who is making the decisions. Don’t barrage the interviewer with questions in this regard, but the more information you have, the more able you will be to get yourself to the next step.
And don’t forget a key component of a successful close—even for a phone interview–is a thank you note to followup.
Finally, after you get done with a phone interview, send out a few more resumes, or go fill out a few more job applications. Hopefully, you won’t need to keep hunting because the phone interview will clinch the job. But it will make you crazy to just sit an wait for the interviewer to take action. If you keep job hunting you are taking action yourself which will make you feel more in control over your situation.
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Posted by Lori Basler on March 17, 2009 at 3:02 pm | permalink |
I would like to know too. Often I conduct interviews in person rather than on the phone.
Posted by Birds birding on March 20, 2009 at 6:36 am | permalink |
Very nice advice Penelope!
I hope to do better on my next interview, the past five I’ve bombed! I’ve been practicing a lot and reading your advice and other sites like Mock Questions, so hopefully that will help!!
Posted by Eli Stone on May 7, 2009 at 3:23 pm | permalink |
phone interviews should not even be considered real interviews in my opinion
Posted by Michael on June 2, 2009 at 5:30 pm | permalink |
I think that phone interviews can carry the same weight as regular in person interviews. The thing with the phone interviews is that can really drag out. If they are interested in you might end up talking to more than few people before you get the job or not. Whereas with in person interviews one or two meetings should do it.
Posted by Brad on October 4, 2009 at 6:27 pm | permalink |
I wrote an article on how to deliver well all your answers, and I agree with Penelope that SMILING is one of the key pieces of phone-non-verbal-communications.
You can check the rest of the article here: http://www.phoneinterviewsecrets.com/blog/how-to-deliver-well-all-your-answers
Posted by Sergi on October 5, 2009 at 10:54 am | permalink |
It seems that some commenting here have missed a most obvious item that the posting left out. You (the interviewee) must know your subject matter in addition to following Miss Penelope’s advice or you may very well “bomb” in an interview. It’s OK to admit you don’t know something – especially if you are a novice – if you immediately follow that admission with a promise to do your best to educate yourself. I’ve interviewed many people over the years and I’ve learned that I much prefer (and will hire) the person who is willing to learn vs. a person who aleady has the skill (or knowledge) in question but is terrible to work with.
Posted by Debbie on January 8, 2010 at 6:49 pm | permalink |
I have a phone interview with a university in a couple weeks and I’m trying to prepare as much as I can beforehand. Thanks for the tips; I think they will help a lot.
Posted by Math on January 20, 2010 at 4:04 pm | permalink |
Is it appropriate to send a Thank You letter via email after a phone interview? I know it’s more formal to send a written Thank You letter via snail mail, but in this day age, is an email acceptable?
Thanks,
Paul
Posted by Paul on March 24, 2010 at 9:49 pm | permalink |
yep its still ok. its very much a personal thing, some like it some dont, but principally its still ok..
Posted by Greg on September 24, 2010 at 4:29 am | permalink |
Thanks for the informative post. Now i know how to make a good conversation in the phone calls. I’m not that good to speak over the phone, but now I have my knowledge in doing it.
Posted by esoy1989 on March 28, 2011 at 6:24 am | permalink |
interesting writeup, i’ve got to mention this to a friend of mine
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looks like a very interesting website you have here, I will definitely be sure to return.
Posted by african masks for sale on June 6, 2011 at 1:25 am | permalink |
Where are the 20 questions? All I see is 20 suggestions…..your ad is false and misleading
Posted by joey baron on June 10, 2011 at 12:40 pm | permalink |
Cool, keep up posting
Posted by hogan interactive on July 8, 2011 at 1:30 am | permalink |
An excellent article to improve people’s quality, enhance the knowledge of the grade, I really like this article, and thank you for sharing.
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Posted by jimi on August 18, 2011 at 3:49 am | permalink |
You have done really nice job. There are many people searching about that now they will find enough sources by your tips.
Posted by Billy Elliot Tickets on August 22, 2011 at 12:03 am | permalink |
What about Skype?
Posted by liz on August 22, 2011 at 9:19 am | permalink |
short but to the point. I see that people argue the part about the “dress up” part. I may sound stupid but I feel more confident when I’m dressed up nicely, so I can see why she points that out
Posted by Peter on September 5, 2011 at 8:56 pm | permalink |
What are your tips for writing a good “Thank you for the interview (or phone interview)” note?
Posted by Megan Brauner on December 8, 2011 at 1:27 pm | permalink |
Nice post. I like the way to begin to conclude your thoughts. Thank you for this information. I very much appreciate your work, keep it up.
Posted by Dried Fruit on January 5, 2012 at 8:38 pm | permalink |
Thanks, Penelope, for your words of wisdom! I followed your advice to a “tee” and completed a successful phone interview.
Thank you again & God bless!
Posted by Angie on February 2, 2012 at 10:34 am | permalink |
Five ways to do better in phone interviews | Penelope Trunk Blog Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I will be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again soon!
Posted by dududukkkkkkk on May 24, 2012 at 9:46 pm | permalink |