[Closed] phone interviews... tips?

the usual, relax, don't try it on or waffle, give yourself some reasonable pause time between sentances, people have a habit when nervous to rabbit on - bash one out before hand..

Wear a suit.
Don't leave long unexplained pauses; if you're having to think about something say "Let me think about that" or similar.
Notepad and pen in front of you to jot things down as you think of them or as they are asked.
Try and think of it as a normal intervew but without the opportunity for the interviewer to see what you are doing. Worst case scenario if it's all going horribly wrong you can do the "Hello? Hello? Can youi hear me?" them put the phone down trick.
Good luck & try and relax. x

Be naked, they will be.

bash one out [s]before hand[/s] during..

FTFY

sorry, nothing else to add. good luck

i was going to say that, but then you may have a long unexplained pause 😀

No need for a long unexplained pause, just talk dirty during that phase of the interview.

what questions do you have ?

write em down as a memory jogger and ask them at an appropriate time or after they've finished asking

good luck

*edit if it's a 'semi-'mobile phone (as they all are) make sure that you are in a good signal position etc

Do it from a quiet place, I did some interviews last year and some of the people I called were obviously on a busy street, I effing hate straining to hear people on the phone let alone when they're looking for a job so they instantly all went into the no pile (worryingly it was about 50% of people called from noisy environments).
And be prepared for "what do you know about the role?" and "what do you know about the company?" type questions right at the start, at least try and be fluent answering those and then you'll make a decent initial impression and sound like you're taking it seriously rather than just someone who got swept up in a crappy agency's attempt to throw bodies at a role they clearly aren't suited for.

Good luck. It's not [i]that[/i] job is it?

I always try to use a landline rather than a mobile for stuff like that, and try not to have any distractions around.

Make sure you speak slowly and clearly, they'll be writing/typing so going too fast may lose some of what you say.

If you have a strong Newcastle/Liverpool accent, just give up now.

Turn the tv off. Make sure you keep anyone else in the house (or whenever) as far away as possible.

If it's a femme on the other end, defo picture what they look like whilst bashing one out.

cheers guys... think i'll keep my clothes on 😉

cha****ng, yep, [i]that[/i] job... thanks for the pointers on the application! i'm surprised just to have an interview, pretty sure it'll go no further...

Stand up during the interview, makes you sound better all round rather than slowly slumping into a chair. That and it makes getting distracted almost impossible. I did mine from a deserted top floor corridoor so I could walk up and down to relax.

How'd it go?

Got his rubiks caught in the desk mid interview and had to cut himself free, whilst being asked about what he thought their target demographic should be.

ugh, just back from a very long train jourey... it went ok, i think...

i was pretty nervous, and blabbed on a little bit (he thanked me for being concise with one of my shorter answers 😳 ). the technical questions were all answered fine, which was a relief. the interview lasted 50-odd mins, which i reckon is a reaonsable sign, as he could easily have cut it off shorter at a number of points.

we'll see next week how it really went though!

After the useful time frame but I would have to say
Hands Free kit - check sound quality with a mate first
Notepad & 3 pens just in case
Write list of questions first tick if answered star for more info
Have google at hand just in case 🙂

I effing hate straining to hear people on the phone let alone when they're looking for a job so they instantly all went into the no pile

Wow. That's just a tad harsh isn't it? I know calling from somewhere noisy isn't ideal but maybe they had no choice?

Not really, when i phone interview people which I do a lot I ask them to propose a time that suits them, that they can be in a quiet environment and then always ask them at the outset if this time still suits.

And even with an hours notice you should be able to get somewhere quiet, not difficult! I cupboard would do!

I got asked if i could do a phone interview for my current job with about 24 hours notice and we had a holiday planned.

I had to drive from Manchester to Cornwall and stop at the side of the road to take the call with my gf/daughter in the car, interview only took ~2 hours 😐

fortunately i had the day off work, and was up visiting my parents, so had a quiet room to have the interview in. i'd given them my mobile and house phone number, and of course, someone decided to ring the phone i wasn't using mid-interview 🙄

[quote=thisisnotaspoon ]Stand up during the interview, makes you sound better all round rather than slowly slumping into a chair. That and it makes getting distracted almost impossible. I did mine from a deserted top floor corridoor so I could walk up and down to relax.
I used to take part in lots of tele-meetings and I preferred to walk around whilst talking.