Phone Interview

[bbeddow]

Guys,
I will be participating in a phone interview for a potential industrial engineering position for a major automotive manufacturer. My background is in computer component manufacturing, but I'm interested in changing fields and automotive is one of them.

I'm new to the phone interviewing process and wondered if anyone has any tips, or suggestions on how best to prepare for this interview.

Thanks for any help.

 

[swertel]

Sit at your desk or table in a quiet room with no background noise. Have a copy of your resume and everything else you sent this prospective employer so you can see what (s)he sees and refer your interviewer to a specific page, if necessary. Other than that, sit with decent posture and smile. Believe it or not, you voice can portray a smile or frown. It can also portray when you are not paying full attention. Speak clearly, even with a digital phone the connection is not alway clear. Finally, relax and don't figit.

Basically, treat this as you would a walk-in interview. Everything you do at home does get conveyed to the interviewer either through voice, background noise, or silence. The interview can tell what you are doing on the other side of the line. If you act like you are at the interviewer's site, then the interview will sound better.

--Scott

For some pleasure reading, the Round Table recommends FAQ731-376

 

[TheTick]

Tape record yourself and experiment with timbre and intonation. Make sure you can be understood.

Good and evil: wrap them up and disguise it as people.

 

[corus]

As with any interview, the only advice is to be yourself.
You're certainly not going to get a job by purely having a phone interview as companies want to see you in person to make sure you haven't got 2 heads, although affirmative action for 2 headed people will surely come.
You have to think why they want to initially interview you over the phone. The reasons are probably to check your resume with you, ie. to see if you're telling lies, secondly to see if you sound like Mr Bean, so that they can have a good laugh later when they play back the tape, and lastly to see if you sound human.
Being human in an interview is difficult as a lot of people present cardboard cut-out images of themselves and sit grinning at you as if they're auditioning for a part in the Shining. So unless you're Mr Bean or feel comfortable with sadistic tendencies, or both, then being yourself should work fine.

 

[pablo02]

As indicated by the other posts, be prepared as for an in person interview -- I'd suggest having a glass of water handy but be careful using it and when to use it...

Be prepared to answer the typical questions encountered... how did you handle such and such situation... give examples of... etc..

do your research on the company and it's services / products, especially since you appear to be changing fields...

relax and be youself, be confident and answer the questions with confidence and to the point -- don't ramble -- their time is important too, respect that..

 

[electricpete]

All good advice.

One thing different about phone interview than normal interview is you can use notes to your hearts content.

In addition to having resume handy, I would jot down a few lists:
1 - things you want to tell them about yourself/your experience if the opportunity presents itself
2 - list of questions about the company and the position.

You may not be able to get through those lists but at least if the opportunity presents itself you will be able to take advantage.

Also keep the pencil/paper handy as the conversation goes so if something comes into your mind while they're talking you can jot down a note to address it when the time is right.

 

[swertel]

If you have access to the internet while on the phone, bring up their website during the interview. You can shock them with how much you know about the history of their company.

--Scott

For some pleasure reading, the Round Table recommends FAQ731-376

 

[PEinc]

Interviews can take a long time. I would not recommend a cordless phone because its batteries may not last the entire call. You don't want to get cut off when the batteries die. Use a "regular" phone.

 

[TheTick]

Use a hands-free headset if you can. Avoid speakerphones.



Good and evil: wrap them up and disguise it as people.

 

[pablo02]

bbeddow -- Give us some feedback on how it went... (for those of us who haven't had the experience of a phone interview..)

 

[PEinc]

The hands-free headset is a good idea only if you have a good headset that transmits clearly. If your transmission is not good, you will make a less than favorable impression. However, most headsets are for cordless phones. I have two cordless phones with headsets next to my desk. If the battery runs low on one of the phones, I can easily and quickly switch phones.

 

[4tuna]

Remember, relax and be yourself. Don't feel like you have to have the right answer for every question. As corus mentions, they are not going to hire you based on a phone interview, they use them to screen out those who can't communicate. I had a phone interview for my current position....and I thought it went pretty poor in terms of my technical responses. But I was relaxed and communicated well and still got the job.

Make sure you have a few questions to ask about the company at the end of the conversation.

 

[TD2K]

It's pretty rare to be hired purely on phone interview but it does happen. I got my present job in fact that way. I knew one of the other engineers where who vouched for me (I was overseas at the time but wanted out) and I had one phone interview with them before getting an offer (well, one technical phone interview plus one really ditzy one from their HR department).

Being an at-will state for employment I guess their risk if I didn't work out wasn't all that much.