Phone Interviewing Tips for Job Seekers

Congratulations! Your resume made it through the applicant tracking system and has been seen by a human, who has decided to move you to the next step in the job search process — the phone interview. But how do you make sure you communicate your awesomeness to them, so you graduate to a video or in-person interview?

Here are some tips:

Find as quiet a place as you can to do the interview. Of course, in these COVID times that can be challenging, but do your best. Make sure you have “minimize background noise” on in your phone settings, and use any other paraphernalia that reduces unwanted noise.

Wear at least business casual clothes, if not a more formal outfit (like you would wear if they could see you). No, if it’s not a video interview, they don’t know what you’re wearing — but you do. It’ll make you feel a lot less professional and confident if you do a phone interview in your underwear.

Research the company and show your knowledge about them during the interview. The positive stuff, of course — not “I’ve heard your CFO’s being sued for sexual harassment.”

Show confidence and focus on all the great skills you have to offer them. You know in movies when the protagonist is interviewing for a job and he or she says, “Please hire me. I really need this job,” and they get hired? Guess what — only in the movies. When it comes to job search in real life, desperation is a big turn-off.

Prepare answers to questions job interviewers tend to ask, with emphasis on how you can benefit the organization with your experience, skills and professional mojo. Give concrete, specific examples of these. Instead of saying, “I’m a people person” (gag), say, “In my customer service position at Fees-R-Us Bank, I conducted confidential cash transactions with more than 100 business customers a day.”

Let the employer know why you want to work for them, and show enthusiasm about them. It’s kind of like dating. People don’t like it if you tell them you’re only interested in them because you haven’t been with anyone in a long time. They want to know you’re interested in them, not just any warm body. So even if you badly need a job, there must be things about that particular organization and position that appeal to you.

Ask questions that show your interest in the job and help you figure out if it’s a company you’d be glad to spend your time working with every day. Like, “How do you see this position fitting into your company’s long-range goals?” Or “How do you evaluate this position?” Another good one: “How would you characterize the work environment here (and hope they don’t answer, “Lord of the Flies)?” And here’s my personal favorite, “What qualities do you consider most important for success in this position?” I once asked this question in an interview and got the answer, “Chocolate obsession.” I knew then that I had the job.

Keep in mind that a job interview should be a mutual-benefit interaction. Like a date, the purpose is to see if there’s a match between what you’re looking for and what they’re looking for. If you try too hard to impress, you’ll probably not make that great an impression anyway. And even if you do and are hired, it’s more likely you’ll wake up one day and say, “Wait a minute, this job sucks.” Or your boss will wake up and say, “Hey, this new hire sucks.” The purpose of the interview is to minimize the mutual suckage as much as possible. You want to find a job with a high non-suckage quotient.

So prepare, show confidence and enthusiasm, and move onward and upward!