Phone Interview Tips

I have noticed recently a lot of people asking for help with telephone interviews, so on that basis I have put some phone interview tips together to help you get through what I would assume is the first stage of an interview.

I must admit I didn’t realise how important this is until now, but having given this topic some thought I realise that I and other employers will pre screen using the phone.

To me the phone is my tool and I rarely get to see candidates face to face, but having interviewed candidates over the phone all these years I am sure I can get a good feel of a candidate from a telephone conversation.

A phone interview will be very similar to a face-to-face interview and in many ways you are interviewed purely based on skills than how you look. So what do I look for when I interview someone on the phone, the same as face to face I will be asking probing questions and listening to the way those questions are answered and if those answers are what I want. Exactly the same when face-to-face.

So based on this you should do the same preparation you would have done if you were face to face i.e. research the company and the role and then put together the reasons why you would be suitable for the position.

Next you need to get your personality across on the phone, which isn’t as difficult as you may think.All you need to do is be calm and comfortable and professional. What may also surprise you is the effect you will have by the way you address the phone. If you stand while talking, you adopt a superior and confident position, if you sit you are not in control and if you are laid back they will know!

In my office my fellow consultants could always tell who I was talking to, dependant on the posture I assumed, if I was chatting up the secretary I was almost horizontal. When I am trying to close I would stand, if I was trying to get my point across I would pace, and to take it to the extreme, if I was being aggressive and dominant I would stand on the table.

So rule number one prepare for the phone interview (research the company, have a copy of your cv with you)
Secondly stand when you make the call to show confidence and it helps you focus.
Thirdly smile because it will come across on the phone.

To finish a telephone interview is a screening interview and will often be short and brief and the consultant will have a specific point they will want to check before they invite you in, hence if you have the cv in front of you will be ready for the question because obviously it will be related to the cv.

Interview Tips Video

THE INTERVIEW WITH GOD

Just a slight deviation from the norm when it comes to interviews, I came across this poem and as I am specialising in recruitment I thought it was quite apt and appropriate. Wether I would get the job if I was interviewed by God I do not know but some thoughts to consider.

 

THE INTERVIEW WITH GOD

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have the time” I said.

God smiled. “My time is eternity.”
“What questions do you have in mind for me?”

“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered...
“That they get bored with childhood,
they rush to grow up, and then
long to be children again.”

“That they lose their health to make money...
and then lose their money to restore their health.”

“That by thinking anxiously about the future,
they forget the present,
such that they live in neither
the present nor the future.”

"That they live as if they will never die,
and die as though they had never lived.”

God's hand took mine
and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked...
“As a parent, what are some of life's lessons
you want your children to learn?”

“To learn they cannot make anyone
love them. All they can do
is let themselves be loved.”

“To learn that it is not good
to compare themselves to others.”

“To learn to forgive
by practicing forgiveness.”

“To learn that it only takes a few seconds
to open profound wounds in those they love,
and it can take many years to heal them.”

“To learn that a rich person
is not one who has the most,
but is one who needs the least.”

“To learn that there are people
who love them dearly,
but simply have not yet learned
how to express or show their feelings.”

“To learn that two people can
look at the same thing
and see it differently.”

“To learn that it is not enough that they
forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.”

"Thank you for your time," I said humbly.

"Is there anything else
you would like your children to know?"

God smiled and said,
“Just know that I am here... always.”

-author unknown

 

You can also visit the web page at http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com

 

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How to get an Interview? (Recruitment Ads)

To get an interview the easiest route is to find a company, which is actually recruiting at present, so you need to scour the press and the Internet.

The Internet to recruiting is the perfect marriage when it comes to finding a job; the skill is to know where to look. Now a big tip for you is that not all companies advertise all their jobs and not all agencies deal with every company.

When it comes to the UK most agencies advertise on the web and for the UK they will use either Monster or TotalJobs There are countless others but my next choice would be a recruitment site that is dedicated to your industry. Companies haven’t quite taken to the Internet yet so they tend to use adverts in publications such as Newspapers or Magazines and some companies will only use recruitment consultancies, which can be from one to all. So if you are registered with one agency you could be missing out on some positions.

I also recommend that when it comes to searching the Internet it is important to understand how to use the search function, to really find the role you are looking for. Lets take for example if the position you want is a National Sales Manager you need to put the phrase in speech marks i.e. "National Sales Manager" and if it is a particular market you want such as fmcg or computer's then the use of AND is important and of course maybe location so as to bring the choice of possibilities down from thousands to a more manageable number, so the search will look like this:

"National Sales Manager" AND "fmcg" AND "Cheshire"

With this search criteria you get 431 with Google, which is down from 18,000, without the speech marks and the use of AND. Also a useful tip is to also use the term NOT particularly if you get a large return for a particular area that is of no interest. The other great thing about Job Boards is you can load your cv onto them and wait for the agencies to contact you and have Job adverts emailed to you each time they are loaded onto the site that fit a certain criteria.

Interestingly I put my cv onto a job board last week and was contacted the same day!!

Job Interview Tips for a Brain Surgeon!!!

When you send your cv to the company there is of course no Guarantee that you will even get an interview, particularly if you do not have that much experience as previously outlined. Hopefully though you have been getting some work experience while you have looking for your ideal job, because I can guarantee it is always easier to get a job if you are in one.

It is really a process to get the ideal job you are after and the interview is only part of it, if you want to be a Brain Surgeon then a degree in Mathematics isn’t going to get you far. So no matter how well the interview goes you will not get the job as a Brain Surgeon.

I know that is obvious put people still apply for jobs that they are not suited for and OK it is good to be positive, but in time the countless rejections will get you down.

It is really important to look at where you are now, where you want to be, and then work a plan. Lets say you want to be a Brain Surgeon, then you need to find out what qualifications you need, what experience and most importantly have you got the skills.

I have no idea what experience you need to become a Brain Surgeon but I do know it takes many years and starts from when you are at school, which sums up the dedication you need.

It is the same for any job you go for experience is key and without no matter what Job Interview Tips I give you it will make no difference at all.