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Dear Dot,
I have a phone interview next week and I don’t know how to prepare—can you tell me what I should expect and how to get ready for it?
Michael S.
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Dear Michael,
Congratulations on having a phone interview! A phone interview is usually conducted to screen candidates and find out if they are qualified and would fit the culture of the organization. Generally, if you are able to demonstrate that you are qualified and would fit in at the company, you will be invited to the company for a longer selection interview.
When you are setting up your interview, try to find out the following information:
- The name and title of the person you will be speaking with
- The date and time of the interview
- Approximately how long the interview will take
During the interview, you will find that there are several advantages and disadvantages to the phone interview. One advantage is that since you are not face-to-face with the interviewer you can (and should) have notes to reference. I recommend writing down ideas to jog your memory including, but not limited to, the following interview questions:
- Tell me a little bit about yourself.
- What do you know about our company?
- Why do you want to work here?
- What are three of your strengths?
- What aren’t you so good at?
- How has your schooling and previous experience prepared you to succeed in this position?
I DO NOT recommend writing what you would say verbatim—you want to sound conversational during the interview and you will not achieve this if you read from your notes. Brief bullet points that you want to make sure to include in your answers should suffice. Another advantage to a phone interview is that you can plan to be in a quiet and comfortable environment to help keep your stress levels at a minimum.
Unfortunately, there are also several disadvantages to having a phone interview. First, neither you nor the interviewer has the chance to use visual cues to gauge the other person. This can work against you because you will not be able to see the reaction of the interviewer to your answers and they will not be able to see your excitement about the job or notice when you have paused to think about a question. Because of this it is very important to choose your words carefully and communicate everything explicitly. For example, if you are asked a question that stumps you, say, “That is a great question—I need to think about that for a minute.” Then pause, think it through for 5-10 seconds, and answer the question. By doing this, the interviewer will know that you haven’t been disconnected, fallen asleep, etc. Another disadvantage to a phone interview is being disconnected or having a fuzzy connection. Whenever possible, when you are scheduling a phone interview, try to provide a phone number to your land-line (unless you are perfectly comfortable with the reliability and clarity of your cell phone). Also, remember to speak clearly and at a reasonable volume so that you will be understood.
At the end of the interview, be prepared with questions for the interviewer, but understand that they may not have allotted time for your questions. If they do not ask you if you have any questions for them, try to find out when you can expect to hear from them or what the next steps will be.
Finally, don’t forget to send a thank you note to the person/people who conducted the interview!
If you would like to practice your interviewing skills, please do not hesitate to make an appointment (either in-person or to practice an interview over the phone) with a Career Counselor by calling 414.288.7423 or schedule a time to practice answering interview questions using InterviewStream.
Good luck!
Dot
If you have career-related questions you would like Dot to answer, please e-mail them to career.services@marquette.edu with “Dot” in the subject line.
