Being Prepared for a Phone Interview
This post comes from Jena Johnson, National Vice President of Regional Activities:
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Regional Activity
in Chicago. While there, I went to a session about how to excel in
your interview. Most of us have heard the basics: research the
company, have a strong handshake, be ready for questions like “tell me
about yourself.” When the speaker moved on to tips for phone
interviews, my ears perked up and my pen scribbled furiously. The
truth is, many of us will be interviewing for jobs not so close to
home, which will require that scary phone interview. Here are some of
the tips that were shared:
* Keep your resume in clear view. Your interviewers will be asking
questions about your resume, and you have the ability to reference it
while you discuss your experience.
* Keep a pen and paper ready. It’s always a good thing to have,
you may think of questions to ask later or just want to make notes
about something interesting that was said.
* Keep a glass of water ready. Just in case you get that throat tickle!
What other tips do you have for phone interviews?
9 thoughts on “Being Prepared for a Phone Interview”
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Be punctual and make sure you are a quiet area! Make sure that you are prepared for the call by having resume and other materials ready about 30min before and that you are on the phone in a comfortable place (house, bedroom, etc)
This is a great post Jena.
I haven’t been as good about blogging as I would like to be, but awhile back I did post an entry entitled “10 Ways to Nail Your Next Phone Interview.” Some students have told me it was helpful. Others can check it out here http://tinyurl.com/catwan.
I like to use a headset so that my hands are free. I also make sure that I let my roommates know that I will be on an important call for a certain amount of time and ask for a little quiet then. Lastly, I always have at least three windows open on my computer: my resume, a word document with questions, and the company’s homepage of their website.
Dress like you’re going to the interview in their office. Stand up, and smile when you talk.
Having your resume in front of you is important and an advantage because if you forget to say something you can refer to it. Be in a place where you can’t be distracted or interrupted.
I would say make sure you are in a place with good cell phone reception!
It sounds like something simple but most of us don’t think about it when we are getting ready for a phone interview.
I always organize my thoughts. Many questions tent to be predictable. Predictable but many still struggle to ace the questions. i.e name 5 postive things about yourself. Be prepared wrtie them out. Be prepared for the expected : )
I always make sure that I am at my computer in my room with the company’s website up, just in case I blank on any information about the company! Also, don’t ramble!! Since you can’t see the other person, if there is a pause, they are probably writing. Don’t just speak to fill time!
I usually don’t post in Blogs but i found this interesting thanks