The dreaded phone interview
April 14th 2010 11:17
I've had many different forms of advice during my own job search, including the usual be confident; be yourself; be assertive; fake it till you make it... etc. But these types of advice are not exactly measurable, and hard to implement because different people have different ideas about what is confidence and assertiveness.
I see any form of interviews like a sale process. If you think about it - during an interview, what you are really doing is trying to sell yourself to the prospective employer. By the interviewing stage, they've all seen your advertisement (the resume and the cover letter) and now they want prove that the product is worth their while.
Another idea is to treat interviews like your first date. You want to impress, you want to shine. You want to make your targets have the desire to see you again.
Right?
So. Here are some of my gathered tips:
1. [Sales] Use their name. When the employer calls and introduce themselves, repeat it back to them. "Hi Richard. Thank you very much for your call."
This way - you remember their name, you are showing that you are listening and paying attention, and it gives that little bit of personal touch on the conversation.
2. [Sales] Direct answers. Once again, repeating is another good way to go. Not only does it give you that extra bit of time to form the answer in your head, it also confirms that you understood the question.
"What are your weaknesses?"
"My weaknesses are that..."
3. [Sales] Use full sentences. Like the last example, you don't answer just by saying the answer such as "shoes", you say "my weaknesses are shoes". Avoid slangs.
4. [First Date / Sales] Smile. Even though it's a phone interview, you can always tell if someone is smiling while they are speaking. The tone becomes more pleasant and lighter. You want to be pleasant, remember?
5. [First Date] Be confident, not self-important. Confidence comes from the inside. While try not to whisper so the other person have to ask you to repeat, don't gloat either. Start your sentences with "I believe I have the ability to..." rather than "Oh, I am the best of xxx you'll ever know..."
6. [Sales] Round it all up. At the end of the interview, when the employer thank you and tell you the details of the next steps, use their name again and sum it up yourself. Say they tell you HR will call you in the next few days to ask for personal references, you can answer with "Thank you Richard. I'll have the references ready and wait for HR to call."
More tips can be found on Career One: Winning the phone interview
Let's start with these, and see how you go.
Good luck.
I see any form of interviews like a sale process. If you think about it - during an interview, what you are really doing is trying to sell yourself to the prospective employer. By the interviewing stage, they've all seen your advertisement (the resume and the cover letter) and now they want prove that the product is worth their while.
Another idea is to treat interviews like your first date. You want to impress, you want to shine. You want to make your targets have the desire to see you again.
Right?
So. Here are some of my gathered tips:
1. [Sales] Use their name. When the employer calls and introduce themselves, repeat it back to them. "Hi Richard. Thank you very much for your call."
This way - you remember their name, you are showing that you are listening and paying attention, and it gives that little bit of personal touch on the conversation.
2. [Sales] Direct answers. Once again, repeating is another good way to go. Not only does it give you that extra bit of time to form the answer in your head, it also confirms that you understood the question.
"What are your weaknesses?"
"My weaknesses are that..."
3. [Sales] Use full sentences. Like the last example, you don't answer just by saying the answer such as "shoes", you say "my weaknesses are shoes". Avoid slangs.
4. [First Date / Sales] Smile. Even though it's a phone interview, you can always tell if someone is smiling while they are speaking. The tone becomes more pleasant and lighter. You want to be pleasant, remember?
5. [First Date] Be confident, not self-important. Confidence comes from the inside. While try not to whisper so the other person have to ask you to repeat, don't gloat either. Start your sentences with "I believe I have the ability to..." rather than "Oh, I am the best of xxx you'll ever know..."
6. [Sales] Round it all up. At the end of the interview, when the employer thank you and tell you the details of the next steps, use their name again and sum it up yourself. Say they tell you HR will call you in the next few days to ask for personal references, you can answer with "Thank you Richard. I'll have the references ready and wait for HR to call."
More tips can be found on Career One: Winning the phone interview
Let's start with these, and see how you go.
Good luck.
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