Ace the phone interview with these 11 tips
If you have been in the vocational search for a while, you may have noticed how difficult landing a decent and fair paying job is. It can be grueling. You have to constantly fill out applications, come up with witty ways to word your resume. This is all to stand out from the crowd and then nail the interview after both of those processes. It can get discouraging if you have been looking for a while. No need to stress, we are going to give you 11 great phone interview tips.
(1) Be Prepared and Ready Like they are Across from You
You may have a phone interview as the sole interview in these times while professionals are so busy so be prepared for an anytime interview. It could be someone from a completely different country interviewing you and your time zones could cause pause for confusion and missed opportunities. Make sure that you know exactly what time zone your potential employer is calling from. Also ask if they prefer your time zone or theirs for working hours in the case of a remote job which many are available now. It will portray an image that you really are interested in making sure you are on task with knowing what time zone you’re interview is going to be in. The employer will definitely noticed that you took note.
(2) Dress the Part
This may seem silly as you can wear your pajamas to a phone interview but here’s the thing, it could be a interview that is on Skype or another service that shows what you look like. Can you imagine having an employer see you in your Sunday night sweatsuit just lounging around? This is incredibly unprofessional. Even if it is just on the phone the fact that you took the time to get ready and get dressed will emulate to your employer how important it is to you to land this job. You are also getting yourself ready to be back in the workforce by having to get in the routine of dressing professionally again after being used to not having to.
(3) Make sure to smile through the Phone
This is another thing that people overlook. They don’t realize that you can hear somebody’s tone in their voice and that is very obvious if they are smiling and sounding chipper and happy or the voice sounds dry and unenthused. You don’t want to sound like you are annoyed at even having to go through this and don’t really want the job. You want to sound like this is your dream career, whether it is or not the employer deserves the respect of giving their time to take to give you a job interview. It is a huge factor in how you do and what the employer has for their first images of you. Especially if you are on a live chat interview call which is very often these days. There could be a room of executives all looking at you as the interview you and passing the phone around so everyone can see you. This is very common.
(4) Get Comfy but do not get Too Comfortable Get Used to Changing Your Posture
You want to sit in a position that is like you would in an office or professional setting. Sit at the kitchen table or a desk. Make sure your posture is straight and you are in a position where your voice carries through the phone. Do not be too loud, you may be on a speaker phone with others around the room. This is incredibly important but you won’t want to make sure that you are not having your attention taken by anything else. Make sure that you have a babysitter ready to be able to watch your children if they are quite young. If they are older explain to them that you have a very important interview and to please be silent while you are on the phone or to go to another room. You also don’t want your parakeet squawking loudly or a dog barking at the mailman. These are also things that can be distracting and something to be ready for, unexpected and expected background sounds. Do not have a television or music going on in the background. That is very tacky and disrespectful to your potential employer if you are watching TV or dancing around listening to music while they are trying to explain to you what your job could possibly be. Take it extremely seriously and your employer will too.
(5) Eliminate the Factors that Distract You
This is incredibly important but you won’t want to make sure that you are not having your attention taken by anything else. Make sure that you have a babysitter ready to be able to watch your children if they are quite young. If they are older explain to them that you have a very important interview and to please be silent while you are on the phone or to go to another room. You also don’t want your parakeet squawking loudly or a dog barking at the mailman. These are also things that can be distracting and something to be ready for, unexpected and expected background sounds. Do not have a television or music going on in the background. That is very tacky and disrespectful to your potential employer if you are watching TV or dancing around listening to music while they are trying to explain to you what your job could possibly be. Take it extremely seriously and your employer will too.
(6) Do not Dominate the Interview
Yes, this is an interview which means the interview is about both of you. It is a question of whether you will be good for their company as well as will they be good for your life. It is questions to go both ways. It is an opportunity to show them your potential boss, how good you are at listening and not interrupting. It doesn’t mean be a silent mute but let them lead the conversation and if you have questions ask at the end.
(7) Study up on the Company
You want to make sure that you know who are you will be working for. Make sure to study who’s a big wig players are whether it's a small office or a big corporation. You want to address the interviewer with yes Mr. or yes Miss and use their full last name. This shows respect coming through the phone that you took the time to know their name and always pronounce it correctly. Any other little tidbits that you can learn about the company that you can throw around are also big plus.
(8) Ask About the Atmosphere
When the employer asks if you do have any questions, of course you want to at this point take the opportunity to answer questions. The advice to let them lead still applies, this would be at the end questions that you would want to ask them. You might want to know what kind of atmosphere it is so you know how to dress. Is it high business casual? Are you expected to wear a uniform? Do you have business casual days?
(9) What is my Position
You want to find out what you will be doing at work each day and the expectations that your employer has for you. Nailing an employment interview is a success on its own with so many looking for jobs. When it is your turn to ask questions like-
● What is your schedule expected to be like?
● Will you have work to do at home as well as in the office? Is there things that you can do at home to make it easier at work?
● See if they bring up what they will be paying you if not then wait until the end after all your questions, to see what type of salary they are offering if it wasn’t in the employment advertising.
How much are they going to be expecting from you? Are you going to be busy every minute of the day handling transactions or are you going to be taking phone calls or making a lot of phone calls. You want to know what you are expected to do and how you can most diligently do your job.
(10) Be Flexible in when you are Available
This is crucial but sometimes forgotten. Make sure to say thank you at the end of the interview. Ask them when they should expect to contact you so you know how long to wait for. They will probably let you know on their own and you may not have to ask but you always want to say thank you for your time, it is much appreciated. Being grateful is one of the best ways you can come off when trying to get a new career going. When you are applying for a job you want to be as flexible as possible to get in. You are lucky to get a phone interview so just remember that they will want to know when you can work. If you can have open flexibility that is more perfect but if you cannot be flexible with what you can do. There may be three shifts or there may only be one or two. Make sure you can handle the shifts that they have and are available.
(11) Thank Them
This may seem like an obvious thing but you want to make sure that you thank the interviewer for their time. They have taken time out of their busy schedule to meet with you and you want to make sure that you are appreciative of that fact. It will make you stand out as a grateful and kind individual who really appreciates that they got a shot at a new job.