Telephone Interview Techniques

Telephonic interviews a common technique for companies to choose a prospective employee by scanning and filtering candidates before calling them over for a face-to-face interview. Telephone interviews are critical in the sense that how you speak, what you say and all such verbal communication will be used to judge you without a hiring company needing to see you in person. This is why it is so imperative to be prepared for such an event than simply rely on your improvisation skills when the call comes. The first part of being ready for a telephone interview is to know when the call is going to come or when you should call. Secondly, you need to set your objectives in order which should include:

• Being able to obtain enough information for yourself so you can decide whether or not you want to go ahead with the interviewing process.
• To give just enough information to the interviewer so that you are able to garner adequate attention from them to be called for a face-to-face interview.
• To end the interview with an agreement on the time, date and place for the subsequent face-to-face interview.

The importance of preparation for such interviews cannot be undermined. Always do your research about the company and the job description so that you are well-informed and cannot be caught off-guard. There are a number of questions that are frequently asked such as “tell me about yourself”, “what can you add to this company” and so on. The objectives of such questions are to gauge your enthusiasm, confidence, knowledge and communicative skills hence it is smart idea to have the answers well thought out. Also, make a list of all questions (open-ended) you want to ask and keep them at hand so that you do not miss any of them during the interview. Since the hiring manager will ask questions out of your CV it is best to keep a copy in your hand.

The next step is facing the call. If it is you who is supposed to call then do it at the precise time and not any sooner or later. The tone of your voice is an important detail tool that interviewers pay close attention to. Hence, do not sound over-enthusiastic or nonchalant. While the former weakens your negotiating power the latter immediately crosses you off. Rounding up, a few last yet essential points to remember are to be succinct, enthusiastic, confident, polite and to not use jargons. Lastly, how you close the interview will also be judged so in a thorough yet brief way.