Phone Interviews

Some employers may call you for an on-the-spot phone interview, if you can and they are open to it, try and schedule
time on a different day so that you can adequately prepare. You want to make sure you treat the phone interview, just
as you would an in-person.

Materials to have ready

• Pen, paper, and water. Some may even require you to have your calendar and a calculator.
• The job description and your resume.
• A list of your relevant experience to the job you are discussing. You can do a mapping or gap analysis of the job
  description to your experience and draft bullet points that focus on the STAR Approach.

Tips & Tricks

• Dress for success: dressing as you would for an in-person interview gives you the confidence and mind space to
  be focused on your opportunity. This also maintains the air of formality.
• Smile – it comes through on the phone.
• Speak directly into the phone. Avoid mumbling.
• Remember your tone. If you have a more monotone voice, that can come off over the phone as bored. You want
  to make sure you practice and insert inflection points into your conversation to ensure you sound interested in
  the role.
• Don’t smoke, chew gum, or eat anything. Your interviewer can hear everything over the phone.
• Avoid verbal utterances or filler words: um, ah, like, uh. This is a habit that can be especially noticeable over the
  phone.

The Winning Performance

• Be aware that the caller can’t see you – can’t see your hand gestures, can’t see you taking notes. Use an
  occasional “I see” or “I understand” to indicate you are listening.
• Pace the call. Let the caller do most of the talking, without interruptions. Try to keep your answers to under 3
  minutes.
• Do use the technique of repeating or re-phrasing questions. It tells the caller that you listened carefully, and
  it gives you time to think about your answer.
• Avoid the simple “yes” or “no”; add selling points at every opportunity.
• If you need time to think, say so. You can say, “that’s an interesting question, let me take a moment to think
  before I answer.”
• Compensation issues come at the end of the interviewing cycle, never at the telephone stage. You can truthfully
  say you don’t know enough about the job to state a salary figure.
• Close with a “thank you.” Graciously thank your interviewer for taking time out of their day to speak with you.
• Be in a quiet place.
• Use a landline, if possible, or at least make sure you have good reception (and your phone is charged). You want
  to make sure that the employer can hear all of your statements and that you can hear them.