Congratulations, you’ve got an interview!
Now, face-to-face interviews should always be preferred, but there are three reasons why Hiring Managers will ask you for a phone interview.
- It is a pre-interview where the company is seeking confirmation of aspects of your resume (your education, your experience), and wants to assess your level of interest and enthusiasm for the position. This helps them narrow down who they will invite in for a face-to-face interview.
- you are physically in a different area and they are not yet ready to pay for travel expenses.
- there are many people involved in different locations that need to join by phone.
Phone interviews can be daunting for a first experience but there are easy ways to prepare for them and nail them. I list below the aspects of the call that you should know or prepare for beforehand, keeping in mind. this is still an interview so you should follow the same etiquette as for an in-person interview.
Who will be on the call.
If you are not sure, ask. Actually, even if you think you know, ask anyway who will be on the call, and their role. This is to make sure that you prepare for the call and know who will be there. Are you already familiar with ay of them (perhaps by email) or are they all new. Also, their job title is important because it helps you prepare for the type of topics that may be discussed. How do you ask? Just send an email or call the secretary who is arranging that call. Most companies will share that information with you.
Confirm who is on the call.
If you get an answer on the above, make sure that you write the list of participants down somewhere near you during the interview. It’s not easy to remember the names of people you may have never met before. If you did not get that information beforehand, please make sure that you ask this first thing into the call, and again write down their names and respective job titles.
The timeslot allocated for the call.
Find out how long is allocated for the call. It seems obvious but you don’t want surprises either way i.e. being cut short because time is up, or you getting tired after 1h on the phone trying to keep the same level of energy. If you know in advance, you can prepare yourself for either situation.
What you have to prepare.
Sometimes, you are asked to prepare something to be discussed during the call. Hiring companies are not always the best communicators so again, be proactive and simply ask, “Is there an agenda for the call? Is there anything specific that you would like me to address during the call?”. Depending on the stage of your interview process you may be told that the call will just be a conversation with the Hiring Manager, or they may ask you to prepare your thoughts on a specific aspect of the job advertised. In the case of the latter, have your notes written down next to you.
Have a drink.
No, not that kind of drink(!) Although you may be nervous, keep it soft. Make sure that you are well hydrated for the call but also make sure you empty your bladder. Have some water or warm tea with honey to sip should your mouth feel dry at any point during the call.
Your tone and articulation.
Your tone and articulation are the one parameter that will immediately be judged by the people on the other side of the phone. As they cannot see you, a lot of their assessment of you as a candidate will be done on how you sound and how you speak. You want your tone to properly reflect your personality. And you want your words to be clearly heard. To prepare for this, it doesn’t hurt to sing or do some voice warming exercises. I would also highly recommend that you use a hands free device to allow you to sit straight, gesture as you speak, and take notes during the call.
Be comfortable but not complacent.
The one advantage of phone interviews is that you can make yourself comfortable. I would however caution not to make yourself too comfortable. It is still an interview. Yes you can do it in your PJs, with your hair messed-up, but if you are not able to sit straight and be energetic in that attire, I recommend actually dressing up a bit so that how your look is reflected in the tone of your voice. Have you ever noticed that you can usually tell when someone is smiling on the phone? The same principle applies here.
Silence. Recording.
Ensure that you are in space with no background noise. Close windows. Put all devices on silent mode. Put the pets in a separate room. Inform your family/friends/acquaintances/hotel staff that you will be on a phone interview and that you are not to be disturbed.
I will finish by sharing anecdotes from my own experience.
When I failed it.
I had a phone interview set up early in the morning. I wanted that job. I was fresh out of university and it was for a company that was a direct progression of my degree and for a position that I had already interned for. On paper, I had it in the bag. At the time I lived alone. I had woken up, had a small breakfast, was fully hydrated. I had reviewed my notes just before the call. I knew my topic. I was and felt very confident. However, when it came to say “hello everyone”, I stumbled. What happened was that I hadn’t actually said one world out loud that morning. I hadn’t spoken to anyone, so my voice was my morning voice. It took a few minutes to get it warmed up. I sounded sleepy and uninterested which made me feel self-conscious which made me loose my focus. A total fail…
When I nailed it.
Soon after my failed experience, I had another chance with another company. The call was also early in the morning. This time I was ready and followed all the points that I highlighted earlier. And you can trust that I spent my early morning singing, even prompting one of my flatmates to knock on my door complaining about my angelic voice. It was worth it, I got a job offer.
So this is my list of how-to’s for phone interviews. I hope this is helpful for some of you. For the more experienced members of The Nine To 5 Hustle community, please chip in and add any other advice from your experience.
In the next post, I will cover Skype interviews.