Acing phone interviews
If you are thinking of new ways to charm your dream company, there is one skill you must master — the phone interview.
Here are a few things you should remember before any phone interview.
It’s serious business: Often, the novelty of a phone interview makes candidates drop their guard. “Those appearing for the interview may mistake it for a ‘get to know you better’ session,” says Manju Dubey, a freelance consultant based in Delhi. “They need to remember that it’s a selection test.”
Be consistent: A general rule for any recruitment process, this is especially important for the phone interview. Telephonic interviews are often combined with a variety of other recruitment tools. The aim of these combined tests is to immediately spot inconsistencies, so make sure you give the right message and the same message in all interactions.
Get set for multiple rounds: Since most telephonic interviews are with a single recruiter, you may have to sit through multiple rounds, each with a different person. Most recruiters will have at least two rounds — the first being technical, based on the subject matter, followed by an HR round to check for personality traits.
Prepare well to solve problems: The importance of the phone as a business tool is well known. Creating a list of standard questions is the bare minimum as recruiters look for those “who can diagnose and solve problems over the phone”. Your interview may therefore contain role-plays where you are asked to “negotiate a deal or to diagnose a technical case study over the phone,” says Mayank Tripathi, who works with Andor Technologies in the US.
Be ready with examples: The script for the phone interview is dictated entirely by your resume. Like a regular interview, all statements on it must be justifiable, preferably with examples. “We prepared three to four examples of incidents from our personal experience and made our resume keeping these in mind,” says Tripathi, about his phone interviews. “These are important for the HR questions such as your values and strengths; any silence to get think time does not sound good, especially on the phone.”
Read/ write during the interview: One of the great perks of the phone interview is that you can keep reading material with you during the interview. It is perfectly legitimate to do so, unless expressly forbidden by an on-site person monitoring it. However this must be thought out before, and the reading material arranged accordingly so that you don’t spend time flipping pages during the interview. Also, keeping written notes of your comments and the interviewers’ comments is a good idea; it will help jog your memory in case you need to appear for a face-to-face interview at a later stage.
Speak slowly and clearly: Your accent is a crucial factor, so speaking slowly and regularly can help.
Smile, the recruiter can feel it: While the interviewer cannot see you, the tone and tenor of your voice give away your mood. It is important to understand that “if you smile, the interviewer can actually feel it, so it’s important to smile and stay relaxed,” adds Dubey.
In conclusion, it’s safe to say if you believe your resume will be shortlisted in a recruitment process, it’s highly likely you will face a phone interview soon or later. Keeping these rules in mind greatly increases the probability that your phone will ring again; this time for a regular interview.