On Phone Interviews

I used to hate phone interviews. I longed for the opportunity to look somebody in the eye, get a feel for how they felt about my candidacy and be able to on-the-spot calibrate my answers to match what vibe I was getting from them. I love 'em now. I hope every interview I ever have is a phone interview. What changed? My comfort with them and perspective on them.

I truly believe that as technology evolves and video-chatting becomes a more ubiquitous technology, phone interviews will fall largely by the wayside within the next 10-20 years. Until then, though, it's important that people develop some level of comfort and expertise in presenting themselves professionally as a strong candidate via a phone interview.

With large companies, often the first interview will be a phone interview with somebody from an HR function. These folks often have a good understanding of the company culture, the general responsibilities, and main competencies for the role in which you're interested. They tend to have varying degrees of expertise and knowledge about the minutiae of the day-to-day responsibilities and often have less of an ability to judge you on the highly technical aspects of your position. Their job is to narrow their large list of on-paper qualified candidates to a small group (often 3-5) of highly qualified candidates to present to the hiring manager. Knowing this goal and what they're looking for will pay huge dividends in preparing your answers.

As a corporate recruiter, I have found that the best candidates follow the following advice:

1. Ask questions - Yes, this is advice applicable to all interviews, but I think it's particularly helpful during the first HR-type interview. I'm continually surprised at how many people leave the interview having not asked any questions. Recruiter opinions on this vary a bit, but for many it demonstrates a lack of interest in the position and company. If the interviewer offers you the chance to ask questions at the beginning of the interview, take it. It's like a teacher asking if you want to know the questions to the test before it's administered. Some of the best candidates I have had have asked me questions similar to "I've researched the position and company and I'm really excited about the opportunity, but to make sure that we're on the same page during this conversation, what would you say are the top 2 - 3 main competencies or skill sets you're looking for in the ideal candidate?" This will a) give you an excellent opportunity to frame your responses, highlighting those specific strengths; b) provide a good idea of what the interviewer's role is and how deep in technical responses to go; and c) differentiates you from the typical candidate. Something to remember: recruiters often do several of these phone interviews a day and anything you can do to keep them engaged is probably a good thing.
2. Display Deep Level of Enthusiasm - Excitement in an opportunity can be presented many ways in an interview - eye contact, posture, smiling, voice modulation and speed, controlled gesticulating. Most of these methods are unavailable in a phone interview. Focus on what you can control and know your tendencies.
3. Be an active participant - You will want to walk the fine line between being an active participant of the interview and taking over the interview. Realize that interviews are a two-way conversation and not just at the end of the interview when they inevitably ask you if you have questions. If you're not sure if a point was made or understood, ask them if your response provided them with the information they needed. Ask them if you provided enough data, or if they need a more technical response.
4. Close the interview - After the interviewer asks if you have any questions and you have gotten all the information you need, I love asking (a variant of) this question to potential employers and being asked it by potential employees: "Now, RECRUITER, that you have had a good chance to get an idea of what kind of skills and experiences I bring to the table, is there any remaining concerns or questions that you have that would prevent you from moving me to the next level?" Most of the time, the recruiter will be non-committal with a response, giving you very little information. Sometimes, however, he/she will identify a concern that you can alleviate. Worst case scenario: they end up not telling you anything valuable and they leave feeling like you can close (important competency in any sales position), have a certain level of ambition, and are really interested in the position.
5. Follow-up - I've become a bigger and bigger fan of LinkedIn as a follow-up mechanism. Whenever I have had a phone interviewed scheduled, I find the interviewer on LinkedIn, add them as a contact, and following the interview, send them a message. It eliminated the awkward request at the interview for their email so you can send them a thank you note. I think this is entirely appropriate for an early phone interview. As a point of comparison, I've probably phone interviewed 3,000 - 4,000 candidates. I've received far less than 100 thank you notes. It's not a requirement, but it sure may differentiate you. And now, if you're linked, follow-up to see your status and send messages of continued interest are much easier.

These tips are no substitute for general interview savvy, but are some good things to keep in mind during your next conversation.