If you have made it through the selection process on your resume’s merit, it is highly likely that you’ll be invited to do a phone screening. This is a more time efficient way of reducing the candidate pile down further before you are asked in for a face-to-face interview. It is also a great way to judge a candidate’s communication skills, and to do a go over a few primary questions to check it’s worth bringing you in for an interview. To make sure you sail through every state of the recruitment process, here are our top tips to ace your phone interview:
1. Get Organised
This sounds like a basic step to remember but it’s important to be prepared with your resume at the ready for reference, a clear phone connection (test your Skype well before the interview), no background noise, and plenty of time in case the phone interview goes long.
2. Do Your Homework
Often one of the first question an interviewer is likely to ask is “How did you hear about us?” By this, they are trying to find out how much you know about the company and/or industry. The interviewer is trying to establish if you’ve done your homework or not. Use resources available to you such as LinkedIn or Glassdoor.com to find out who your interviewer is, what previous employees have said about working for the company, dig around in the press and industry journals for information on their current initiatives/projects.
3. Be Enthusiastic
Enthusiasm is harder to portray over the phone as you cannot use body language. Put energy in your voice and make sure the intonation shows how interested you are in the role and/or industry. A nifty tactic is to place a mirror in front of you so you can see yourself as you talk. Smile as you talk and it will automatically make your voice sound more upbeat and positive.
4. Engage and Interact
Your previous experience, qualifications and skills account for only a proportion of the hiring process. People hire people they like. It is harder to show off personality over the phone, but it is more important than ever to engage intelligently with the interviewer by asking the right questions. Demonstrate your aptitude and competence be asking insightful question throughout the interview, rather than just waiting for the next question like a puppy learning new tricks. Also use a conversational tone of voice as though you were talking to a friend, rather than a robot reading off your resume.
5. How Can You Help Them 
The only reason companies look to hire a new member of staff is because there is a weak link in the system. It is your responsibility to find out what that sore spot is and how you can ease the pain. Do this by asking the interviewer “what are the biggest challenge someone will face in this job in the next six months?” A question like this will tell you how to cater your responses to let the interviewer know you have all the necessary atributes to handle the challenges associated with this position.
6. Ask For Feedback
Don’t hang up from the phone interview wondering how the call went and what they think of you. Finish the interview by asking something like: “Based on what we discussed today, do you think I am a good candidate for this position?”.
This gives you one last opportunity to ease any of their worries and also leave a departing image in their mind as someone who sees the process through from start to finish and leaves no ‘i’ un-dotted or ‘t’ un-crossed.