Telephone interviews.. Do's and don'ts?

I’ve applied for a graduate scheme with a company. I jumped through the hoops with CV, covering letter etc. and then the psychometric and verbal reasoning on line tests. I’ve just received a call from them with a time and date for a telephone interview (on my birthday actually).

I’ve googled and researched extensively but this is the first time I would have done a phone interview. Any personal experience? Hints and tips that have helped you?

Anything would be appreciated, this is the scheme I would really like to take over any others so it’s crucial that I get it right! I don’t want to use it as a lesson as I want the position.

Thank you for any help and advice you can offer!

Make sure you have a note pad and calculator ready.
Go to the loo beforehand.
Sit somewhere quite. Good luck.

DO .. Stop and think about your answer before replying
If in doubt ask for clarifiaction of the question.

You do not have body language to go on so be precise with your reply, d

DO NOT … mmm and err … it’s better to be quiet while thinking

Dress up as if it were an interview (ie suit)

As above, I’d also dig through their website and see if you can find ways of fitting yourself into the company values, also make sure you have a copy of your CV in front of you during the interview.

I also has a brief spec sheet of the role that I’d applied for and how I fitted into it, but as I recall it’s quite hard to find out what graduates do specifically (other than make the tea;-)

I got offered the job, only in a different country (the UK based one went to an internal applicant, BAH!)

Stand up, your voice projects better when you are standing
Use a landline and switch off your mobile
Do it somewhere there is no chance of any background noise, especially hand dryers and flushing

Don’t put ice in your whisky – the interviewer will be able to hear the clinking.

😉

Dress up as if it were an interview (ie suit)

Is that a “do” or a “don’t” ?

Personally I’m not that comfortable in a suit, so I would say for me that would be a “don’t”

Phone interviews for grad jobs are just formality TBH removing all the people who should have never bothered applying in the first place.
Just ensure you know the companies business partners, history & competitors. Also, make sure you know your covering letter & CV like the back of your hand, so you dont make a blunder with all those countless white lies haha

the rest is luck & experience

Thanks for all the advice. Some brilliant things that I wouldn’t have thought of.

STW performs again 😀

I had a couple of interviews that I thought were chats …till I got a job offer. Make lots of time, have your letter and CV to hand, something to write with, know the company really well, squeeze in something about yourself – it’s the person they’re buying. Lots of people fill the role. Be interested in what problem they are trying to solve – why are they recruiting? I walked around a lot. Listen hard, ask if you’re not sure. Oh I dunno, just get lucky, I was. Try and enjoy it!

Just a few things that should be obvious:

Confirm an exact time for the interview so that you can set time aside in your day and ensure you are available and in a quiet atmosphere.

Take summary notes of any research you’ve done and have it to hand.

Don’t have a laptop nearby as you will be tempted to google something you don’t know and the key presses will be heard over the phone.

Remove any distraction – TV, radio, turn off doorbell if you can, don’t be expecting a delivery from CRC.

If you have any flatmates/housemates let them know in advance, or don’t if they’ll deliberately set you up.

Make sure you have a decent mobile signal if you don’t have a landline.

I would go against the standing bit above. Sit down at a desk with any notes. I tend to wander about the house on the phone which adds sound (foot steps on wooden floor, opening doors etc)

If you have a dog, give it a toy/chew for 30 mins.

I conducted some phone interviews last week. I asked the candidates to chose a time convenient to them. One of them then went out, at his chosen time, and then conducted the interview whilst walking down a street in strong winds!

You really can’t help some people….

I conducted some phone interviews last week. I asked the candidates to chose a time convenient to them. One of them then went out, at his chosen time, and then conducted the interview whilst walking down a street in strong winds!

My manager at the time called a guy at a prearranged time to start a phone interview. Out of courtesy asked the guy if now was a good time to start the interview. Reply from the guy was that now wasn’t the best time and could he call back later?

Could hear the snap of the pen across the room as my boss ran it across the guys name on the list.

Stand up, your voice projects better when you are standing

I’ve heard that one but I don’t like it. I think you’re better off comfy

Don’t sing hymns loudly all the while that the interviewer is trying to speak.

A good interviewer will make the effort to try and get the most from the candidates, as everyone gets nerves / makes small mistakes etc.

Don’t sing hymns loudly all the while that the interviewer is trying to speak.

+1, that can be really off putting….

Somewhere quiet
Prepare for it like any normal interview
Be succinct and to the point (if I phase out during a reply, bad sign)
Don’t have your mum answer (hearing her shout your family nickname up the stairs is not a good start)
Don’t bullshit
Don’t lie
Know your CV
Be available and if you have to reschedule, unless there’s a seriously good reason, do it several hours or days ahead

Obvious but clearly not obvious to everyone tip… MAKE SURE YOUR PHONE IS CHARGED AND WORKING

Depends. Give me nothing and your interview is over quickly (one bloke I ran out of stuff after 5 mins). I can’t drag something out of a yes/no answers. Nerves are fine, not providing any way for me to see that you’re possibly worth getting for a proper interview means I can’t take the risk.

Had my interview last week and thought I did well. Followed the advice from here and from family. Got a call to say that I’ve made it through to the assessment centre! So happy. Last hurdle to go now.

So BIG thanks to the STW-ers who gave some sound advice!
Merry Christmas all !

(I’ll need to start a new thread once I know what the assessment day lay out will be).

What company?

My wife interviews for a big consultancy (probably known and hated by people on here 😉 ) she gets some absolute classics.

Good luck with the next step. I went to a couple of assesment centres when I looked. Faourite (although I didn’t get the job) was a drinks company that employed actors for the role plays. Got a job at the place where they asked us to prepare a presentation for 9am at 11pm when we were leaving the bar.

Play a DVD really loud in the background. Something like the start of saving private ryan.

After the interview they’ll ask each other how it went.
“It sounded like he was in the middle of a war, and yet stayed calm and collected throughout. Lets hire him!”

I do interviews for a large consultancy (probably hated by people on here as well!). My tips would be:

– Look beyond the company website and know at least 5 / 6 competitors and recent deals the company has won (just look in a business news website)

– If they ask don’t say you haven’t applied anywhere else – having several applications on the go shows that you are serious about the career you’re pursuing

– Have a coherent answer as to why you’re applying – ‘i need the money’ is not a good answer

– See if they’ve indicated it’s a competency based interview – assuming they have (most grad ones are in my experience) make sure you practice writing out some answers to the obvious ones (e.g. give an example of how you tackled a difficult situation, explain how you dealed with a difference between two team members, give an example of how you tackled a vaguely defined problem, how have you supported a team member)

– Always apply the STAR technique when answering – Situation (context), Task (what you had to do), Action (action *you* took), Result (what happened)

– Don’t say “We did this” they’re interested in what *you* did

– Don’t panic – take your time to answer, the interviewer is probably nervous as well

EDIT: Just noted that the interview is in the past! Glad it went well 😀

Try to find out who is interviewing you and then do a little research into them. LinkedIn is useful. You can also generate some traffic to your profile by finding employees in that company and accessing their profile. If you find you are linked to someone in that company you could ask them some questions which could help you in the interview.