8 Tips on Doing Better Phone Interviews
Sooner or later, it will come time for me to spread my wings and fly away to another company. There’s a good chance a phone interview will be involved. Below are some pointers picked up from the Brazen Careerist, and her commentors about phone interviews.
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 be walking 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 areas. 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.
4. Give concise and well-structured answers/responses to interviewers.
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…â€)
5. 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.
6. Center down.
Allow yourself a bit of time (15 minutes or so) before the call to relax. Spend that time breathing deeply, forcing the thoughts of the company, the job and the interview out of your mind. With every exhalation, let the stress that has built up in your neck and shoulders escape. This practice will allow your brain to work free from stress when the phone rings and will set the tone for your breathing during the interview itself.
7. Hydrate.
Keep some water handy. You don’t want to keep the interviewer waiting if you get choked up or your mouth gets dry (and it will). By the way, “excuse me, I need to take a drink of water†is always an acceptable way to stall if you need a few extra seconds to think.
8. Control. Your. Cadence.
When we’re nervous, we have a tendency to talk fast. Make a concerted effort to slow your speech and enunciate. You’re interviewer will appreciate your articulation and your brain will have more time to think about the right things to say.
Update: 50 Common Interview Question and Answers
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