How To Prepare For A Phone Interview

How Is Your Previous Experience Relevant To This Position

• Phone interview question number three is how is your previous experience relevant to this position?
• Theres a very easy way that you can answer this question. Make sure when you undertake your phone interview, you have a copy of your resume or your CV in front of you, because then you can refer to it and dont forget.
• Make sure you download a copy of the job description because then you can cross match the skills and qualities you have that are relevant to that role and that will help you to answer the question. How is your previous experience relevant to this position?

Focus And Cut Out All Distractions

Make sure youre not distracted. Turn off the TV. Let me repeat that. TURN OFF THE TV.

Nobody wants to ask you about your past performances and work history and hear Sponge Bob in the background. Dont think putting it on mute is good enough either. People can tell if youre distracted and delaying your answers to a potential employer because youre reading the crawler at the bottom of FOX News isnt going to score you any points.

Get comfortable, but dont get too comfortable.

Find a good spot to sit down and have all your prep materials nearby for easy access.

Sit at the kitchen table or at a desk.

Dont lay down. Dont slouch. Make sure distractions are not going to be an issue.

If youre doing the interview at home and youre not alone, make sure everyone knows youre going to be busy for a bit and to give you some privacy. Put the dogs outside. Pop in a video for the kids. Have your spouse keep everyone calm. At the very least go into a room where you can shut the door and focus on the task at hand.

So, now that youre up and dressed, lets get ready for that interview!

First and foremost, make sure youre presenting yourself in the most professional way possible, from the very first Hello, all the way to the Goodbye.

Connect Skills Alignment Through Your Answers To The Common Phone Interview Questions

Set a timer for three minutes and focus solely on the job description of the gig youre hoping to secure. For each of the bullets, write down a note or an example of how you meet the requirement. Whittaker-Walker says this will be an all-too-essential piece of paper to reference when youre answering common interview questions. This list will be helpful if youre asked why you think youre a good fit, or if youre asked to share general examples of your leadership abilities, she continues. It will also help the interviewer see alignment between your background and the role, which is a big part of early-round phone screens.

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Print Your Resume And Cover Letter

The recruiter or hiring manager who calls you will probably ask you to walk them through your resume, which will be hard to do if its not in front of you. And you dont want to scramble to find it while your interviewer waits.

Print both your cover letter and resume before your telephone interview so that you can reference them if need be.

The Phone Interview Might Be The Most Important Part Of Your Job Search Heres How To Make Sure You Get It Right

Crush your phone interview with these tips.

Think the interview is the first step to landing your next job? Think again. Most jobs start with a phone call either with a recruiter, HR manager, or hiring managerand sometimes, all three. So before youve chosen your interview outfit or practiced your handshake, youll need to practice a few phone interview tips to get you to the next step.

In the age of texting, Zoom, and hashtags, phone conversations are something of a lost art, but its a skill that can be quickly mastered if you know some of the basicsand plan ahead.

Prior to dialing in, make sure youre prepared to show off your best professional self to potential employers. Here are five expert phone interview tips that will help you get through even the toughest calls.

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Prepare Your Salary Range

One of the most important things to do before your phone interview is to prepare your salary range. This means having a sense of what your bottom line is and what youre willing to negotiate. This ensures that you and the interviewer dont waste each others time moving on to an in-person interview if the salary ranges dont match.

However, only provide this information if youre asked for it. Do not bring up anything about money unless asked, or it may not reflect well on you. The interviewer may end up thinking that youre only interested in the money, and not the company or the position.

Don’t Forget To Follow Up

It’s also a good idea to follow up after an interview to see if a decision has been made. How long should you wait before following up?

Pay close attention during the interview. Often, the interviewer will give you a timeline for their hiring decision. For example, they may say something like: “We’re going to make a decision by the end of the week.”

If you’ve got a timeline for the hiring decision, give them a few extra days after the deadline has passed before you contact them. These decisions rarely run on schedule and things often come up to delay the decision. If you don’t have a timeline for when they intend to fill the job, many experts recommend waiting about two weeks from the date of your interview before you follow up.

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Strive To Be Earth’s Best Employer

Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. Leaders ask themselves: Are my fellow employees growing? Are they empowered? Are they ready for what’s next? Leaders have a vision for and commitment to their employees’ personal success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere.

Phone Screening Interview Questions

After applying for a job, a hiring manager may offer you a preliminary phone interview. This is your opportunity to show them that you’re a personable and qualified candidate. By effectively answering several basic interview questions, you can move onto the next round of interviews. In this article, we explain what this kind of interview entails and share several phone screening interview questions with sample answers to help you prepare.

Related:Phone Interview Tips: How To Conduct Yourself Before, During and After the Interview

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Get A Good Nights Sleep

Feeling alert and refreshed on the day of your phone interview is incredibly important. If youre groggy from a lack of sleep, the interviewer will likely be able to hear your exhaustion through the phone not a great first impression!

To set yourself up for a great nights sleep, turn off technology a few hours before you go to bed. Blue light from digital screens can mess with your circadian rhythm and keep you awake. Do a few meditative exercises before bed to help you relax and consider sipping on sleep-inducing drinks .

When Have You Worked As Part Of A Team

• Phone interview Tip number five is when have you worked as part of a team? The majority of interviewers will ask you this question because team work is so important to the success of their organization so when you answer the common phone interview question, one of you worked as part of a team.
• Make sure you use a star technique to answer the question. Start technique stands for situation, task action and result, and its a great method to use that will make sure you give concise and evidence based details of how you meet the particular time when you worked as part of a team phone interview.

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Prepare Your Own Interview Questions

Having a few thoughtful questions to ask at the end of a job interview impresses potential employers and helps you to gather information about the company. The more you know, the easier it will be for you to decide whether you can see yourself working there.

Although you can certainly come up with questions as you go, try to have a list of questions written down that you can fall back on if none come up during the interview.

Phone Interview Tip Number Five

• It is really important that you demonstrate good manners. You are polite and you are also professional throughout your phone interview. Now, if the interviewer is going to call you for the phone interview, make sure you answer the phone in a professional manner.
• I would say something like, Hello, Justin Blake speaking, and I would then let them speak.
• Now, if you are required to call the interviewer, make sure you do it in a professional manner. Again, I would say something like this. Hello, its Justin Blake here. Im just calling you for our scheduled phone interview, and thats a professional way to answer your phone and also to call the interviewer if you are required to do so.
• Make sure you demonstrate good manners. You are polite and above all, you are always professional throughout the duration of your phone interview.

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Prepare Your Salary Number

Yes, this is might come up, especially if the phone interview is an initial screening call with HR. So youll want to have a smart answer ready.

Figure out what youre worth by using a salary calculator and reading this article and this one. Then practice how youll convey that request by reading this article on discussing salary requirements.

And check out this article if you find yourself being asked the question, Whats your current salary?

Example Phone Interview Questions

Since a phone interview is more of a pre-interview, recruiters will often ask very similar questions. Most will focus on the skills and experiences that are essential to the job. They want to confirm that you have the exact skill set theyre looking for before they commit to a more in-depth video or in-person interview. Here are some questions you should be prepared to answer.

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Insist On The Highest Standards

Leaders have relentlessly high standards – many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and driving their teams to deliver high quality products, services and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.

Set Up The Phone Interview At A Time That Works For You

You often have choices about when to schedule your call. It only makes sense to schedule it when you’re most alertif you’re a morning person, schedule it early. If it takes you a good few hours to become your best, schedule it for the afternoon. If they call you and it isn’t a good time for you, let them know that it isn’t the best time and ask to reschedule. Just don’t wait too long to make that happen.

Hint: Make sure that when you do set it up, you leave yourself a cushion of time after the call, in case it goes especially well and runs long. Some phone interviews stick with a time limit of 10-15 minutes, but others go 30-45 minutes or longer.

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Preparing For A Phone Interview: Before

You start preparing for a phone interview by doing many of the same things you do for an in-person interview:

• Research the company by checking their website, LinkedIn page, and other social media sites. Talk to any contacts that work there to get some inside information.

• Learn as much as you can about their markets, sales strategies, and key figures. You need to be ready and able to answer the question What do you know about us?

• Prepare relevant questions to ask the interviewer. This can make or break a phone interview, so make sure you pick questions that show you are the ideal candidate for the job.

Next is the preparation that’s specifically for during the phone interview.

Why Do Employers Use Phone Interviews

Employers use phone interviews because it enables them to identify and recruit the right candidates for an open position. Furthermore, phone interviews help to:

• Screen candidates

• Help recruiters narrow down a pool of applications

• Minimize the cost incurred by facilitating the movement of out-of-town candidates

• Provides a method for interviewing for remote positions

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What To Expect During A Phone Interview

There are a few occasions when an interview happens over the phone. Many companies use a phone screen with a recruiter as the initial step in the hiring process. This is a critically important part of your job search. The recruiter will ask you about your background, skills and experience to see if its well-aligned with the open position. They may also be screening to see if you would be a good culture fit for the company. If all goes well, the recruiter will move you onto the next stage. But if they come away with a poor or incomplete impression of you, things are unlikely to progress.

The next stage of the interview process is also typically conducted over the phone. In this phase, you will likely speak with the hiring manager or another individual on the team thats hiring. This interview is usually more in-depth than the phone screen as the interviewer has a deeper knowledge of the open role and what qualifications would make someone successful in it.

Both of these interviews usually last around 30 minutes. Consider phone interviews your opportunity to sum up whats most attractive to you about the job and the company, as well as the skills and qualifications you bring to the table.

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• Why are you applying for this position?

• Why do you want this job?

• Tell me what you know about the role

• Why do you want to work here?

• Why are you looking for jobs?

• What are you passionate about?

• What are your salary expectations?

• Are you interviewing with other companies?

Why Are Phone Interviews Important

There are three main steps recruiters and hiring managers use to sift through potential candidates when hiring for an open position: job applications, phone interviews, and face-to-face or online interviews.

If your cover letter and resume are a match for the role, youll make it through the application process to the next phase, which is often a straightforward but telling phone call, where youll be asked some basic interview questions and to clarify information from your resume.

average return of 618%

In roles and industries where competition is high, phone interviews play an essential role in determining whether or not youll move forward in the hiring process. If youre unprepared, you could lose out to another candidate who took the time beforehand to research the company, come up with answers to common phone interview questions, and planned ahead to avoid any technical difficulties or interruptions.

Phone interviews can help recruiters and hiring managers to:

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Do You Have Any Questions

It is important that when given the opportunity, you ask at least a few thoughtful questions to your phone interviewer. This shows you are engaged, actively listening and genuinely interested in the opportunity.

Researching the company is an easy way to understand the companys history, mission and values. A great place to start is by browsing the companys website. You can also search the internet for recent news articles. Use the information you find to help shape your questions. Your initiative will be well-received because it proves you took the time to learn about the company and industry.

Here are a few example questions you might consider asking:

• What does a typical day look like for a person in this position?

• How has this role grown or adapted to suit the needs of the organization?

• What kind of growth does the company expect to see within the next five years?

• Do you have any concerns about my experience or skill set?

• Thank you for explaining the role to me in such depth. When might I hear back from you regarding next steps in the process?

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