Thursday, July 8, 2010

Mastering the Phone Interview

Help!! I’ve got a phone interview – what should I expect?

I’ve heard this plenty of times from clients who have hooked an employer with their resume and then aren’t sure how to ‘real them in’. Well, in today’s job market it can all start with the phone interview.

So, what should you expect when the employer calls? In days gone by the phone interview was mainly a simple introduction, a few quick/easy questions and most often just used to coordinate calendars and get you in for a face/face interview. But not anymore; employers have a sea of candidates to choose from these days and want to use their time efficiently.

So, a phone interview now is much more like a face-to-face interview and you should expect many of the same questions. Yes, it can be a bit unnerving knowing that you have to be prepared to project your “entire” self over the phone, including giving the interviewer the essence of your personality and what it would be like to work with you. Not always an easy task, to say the least.

To be prepared you must treat the phone interview the same way you would treat a live interview. Be prepared for questions regarding your experience, knowledge, strengths, weaknesses, decision making processes, etc. And know that the phone interview can often last an hour or more! That’s right – amazing, isn’t it? If you’re a person who is not a phoneaholic this can be torturous! But it’s true…the phone interview has turned into a true first interview. This interview will be used to weed out candidates who do not meet employer expectations right from the get-go.

A recent client of mine who had a lengthy phone interview was told that she was one of fifty scheduled for a phone interview for the position and they would whittle the candidates down to 20 that they would then invite in for face-to-face interviews. You can see that employers have a plethora of candidates to choose from – so, your phone interview can make it or break it regarding chances of further interviews with a company. So be prepared and win! Visit us for more help with interview preparation.

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