Acing the Phone Interview!

The first step in the process of interview rounds is a telephone call from your targeted company. This 15-45 Min. interview can be scheduled by either a recruiter (HR person) or someone in the hiring chain, including the hiring manager. The logistics of this scheduled phone session happens typically via email exchanges, so make sure that you schedule it for the best possible outcome. By that I mean, finding a time and a place so that you can have a private conversation with a good phone connection, no interruptions, distractions, or time pressure.
Most candidates underestimate the importance of the phone interview. They rationalize by thinking to themselves that an in-person interview will be much more important and will give them a chance to better prepare, so they deal casually with the first phone interview, which often results in end-of-the line for them, losing a valuable chance to further secure their candidacy for the job.
This blog is about the preparation and planning required to increase your chances of success for the future rounds of interviews and to protect your candidacy for the job offer you want to get.

1.Carefully review the job description, your rsum, and your cover letter before the phone interview. If you are applying for many jobs it is easy to confuse one job with another and provide the wrong information or engage in a confusing conversation.
2.Review the company website and do some research in your area of work. If you can find some recent media coverage on the companys situation and tie that to your work area that is a good way to engage the calling party. If you can further show how their current pain or problems can be directly addressed by the expertise you bring to that job then youll have an engaging conversation in that first call (see #12). As an example, if the company is suffering from key account defections and you are applying for a Global Account Manager role it would intrigue the caller if you say, In my current role as a GAM I was successful in both, proactively identifying at-risk accounts and then working with them to keep them loyal, as well as brining back customers that had already defected. I have developed a scalable process that works on all such customer accounts.
3.When the time for the phone call comes get yourself ready as if you are going for an audition or an in-person interview: Get dressed and shave/put on make-up as if you are meeting someone important for the first time. The state of you mind during the interview call is important in making you feel confident and ready, even though it is just a phone interview.
4.Make sure that you are using a good-quality phone with a reliable line. Landline is best with a regular voice connection. The worst of all is a portable phone with a VoIP line (a la Vonage). Next in line are voice lines with portable phones. Mobile phones have their own problems, but try using a headset in such cases. Make sure that the signal strength is at least at 4/5 bars on your mobile line.
5.Remember, the time for such calls is limited, and often, the caller can be distracted at their end. They may be engaged in emails, browsing through other rsums, or even Holiday shopping on a website as they are talking to you. So, a well-scripted narrative (rehearsed success story), usage of familiar language, and confident tone will keep the caller engaged. Keep a crib sheet in front of you as talking points, in addition to your rsum and other submittals on your screen as you are talking. It is not that difficult to sense if the person at the other end is distracted while talking to you. So, when you sense that distraction learn how to re-engage that person by pausing at critical times, varying your tone, and enhancing your timbre. Fragile, hesitant timbre with a low voice can cause you to lose the interviewers interest no matter how interesting your content is (see #6, below). Doing a sound check often can also correct any fading problems you may have during your interview; do not assume that what you are saying is what is being heard, especially if you are using a mobile phone. Speak clearly and slowly at the pace they are using. If you have an accent be aware of it and speak accordingly.
6. Body language is even more important in phone conversations than it is in face-to-face interviews. So, begin your conversation with a smile and a greeting, saying that persons name. Say that you are glad to have this opportunity to explore further the job that is of interest to you. Do not interrupt while they are talking or asking questions. Speak with the same flow as theirs. Sit down (do not roam around with the phone in your hand) and press your feet firmly on the ground. These two acts increase the gravitas of your timbre by adding low-frequency harmonics to your voice. Most people are nervous during such interviews and standing up or moving around increase your pitch, which may come across as being more nervous or anxious (what are you hiding?) than necessary. If you are anxious or nervous do cycles of deep nose-only breathing that lasts four seconds each, four times (inhale, hold, exhale, hold, each four seconds) inhaling using your diaphragm.
7.Get to know the interviewer by studying their LinkedIn Profile and other data by Googling them. This will arm you with information about how they think and what their focus is going to be. Do not hesitate to mention their blogs or accomplishments in a casual way as you engage into a more serious conversation.
8.If the person is from HR, salary question is likely to come up. This can happen any of two ways: What is your current salary OR what salary are you expecting? This is generally a screening question to make sure that the recruiter is presenting you within the bounds of the salary parameters set by the hiring team. Otherwise, they look sloppy. The best way to respond to such question is to simply say, My last years (or most recent) W-2 shows $xx as total compensation. I am open to a compensation that fits within your range for this position and that also reflects the current market. I am flexible. Brining up W-2 creates instant credibility to your response and does not prevent you from seeking a higher salary if appropriate (later). Do not dwell too much on numbers at this stage, get going on qualifying yourself for the role, so that you get invited to the in-person interview rounds.

If your salary is too low for the market point you can get disqualified (what is wrong with the person?). Quickly admit that your salary is well below the current market point and the reason for it (company has not given raises for three years, or it cut salaries by 20% during the last downturn, etc.).
9.Show genuine interest in the position even if there is a definite showstopper that suddenly emerges in the conversation. For example, the caller says, This job requires you to relocate to our HQ in NY and you have relocate on your own. Even with such a surprise, where you had decided to not relocate for any job, continue the conversation by saying, Let me talk this over with my wife to see if I can persuade her to consider this, but let us continue as if we can. This way you can continue the dialog and get to decide if the offer is otherwise acceptable and how the market views you. In some such cases, because of the exceptional job fit, the company agreed for my client to telecommute with once-a-month trip to HQ for two days.
10.If you are taking notes use paper, not your computer. The tapping of the keyboard may come across to the interviewer as if you are engaged in dealing with your own emails or some other distractions.
11.Whenever possible engage in a dialog rather than merely subjecting yourself to an interrogation. Be clever about how to inject a question in the flow of exchanges, so you have some reference around which you can respond. Merely responding to questions is not as effective an interview strategy as exploring what they are REALLY looking for. You will know what that is only by asking (see # 12 below).
12.Focus on your benefits to them and not your features. So, instead of saying I bring 15 years experience as a program manager (Feature), say, With many years experience turning around floundering projects you can help them get on track with their next product releases (Benefit), because you know how these releases get derailed and what to do to keep them on track from the get-go. You know their release delays only after asking some critical questions.
13.Let the interviewer decide when to end the interview. Once you know you have reached that point in the flow of things, take a moment and say, Let me summarize what I have gathered from this discussion and the three things of value I have to offer to your team (1, 2, 3). End by saying that you are very interested in pursuing this further and are looking forward to the next step. Before hanging up ask what the next steps are, their timeline, the persons contact details for a follow-up, and offer your thanks for their time and interest.
14.After the call send a Thank-you note (email) and summarize what they promised you: As you mentioned in our call, Sally, I am next expecting John Smith, the hiring manager to call me within a week. If I do not hear from him by next Wednesday I plan to let you know as a follow-up. Repeat your interest in the position.
15. If they inform you that the next step would not take place (for whatever reason) do not become rabid, but just say, Thank you for letting me know. My interest in that position continues, so please let me know if anything changes.

A telephone interview is a first step in the qualification process for a candidate. So, do everything possible to protect your option for getting called for an in-person interview and for getting that job offer. You can always turn it down!

Good luck

About Author

Dilip has distinguished himself as LinkedIn’s #1 career coach from among a global pool of over 1,000 peers ever since LinkedIn started ranking them professionally (LinkedIn selected 23 categories of professionals for this ranking and published this ranking from 2006 until 2012). Having worked with over 6,000 clients from all walks of professions and having worked with nearly the entire spectrum of age groups—from high-school graduates about to enter college to those in their 70s, not knowing what to do with their retirement—Dilip has developed a unique approach to bringing meaning to their professional and personal lives. Dilip’s professional success lies in his ability to codify what he has learned in his own varied life (he has changed careers four times and is currently in his fifth) and from those of his clients, and to apply the essence of that learning to each coaching situation. After getting his B.Tech. (Honors) from IIT-Bombay and Master’s in electrical engineering(MSEE) from Stanford University, Dilip worked at various organizations, starting as an individual contributor and then progressing to head an engineering organization of a division of a high-tech company, with $2B in sales, in California’s Silicon Valley. His current interest in coaching resulted from his career experiences spanning nearly four decades, at four very diverse organizations–and industries, including a major conglomerate in India, and from what it takes to re-invent oneself time and again, especially after a lay-off and with constraints that are beyond your control. During the 45-plus years since his graduation, Dilip has reinvented himself time and again to explore new career horizons. When he left the corporate world, as head of engineering of a technology company, he started his own technology consulting business, helping high-tech and biotech companies streamline their product development processes. Dilip’s third career was working as a marketing consultant helping Fortune-500 companies dramatically improve their sales, based on a novel concept. It is during this work that Dilip realized that the greatest challenge most corporations face is available leadership resources and effectiveness; too many followers looking up to rudderless leadership. Dilip then decided to work with corporations helping them understand the leadership process and how to increase leadership effectiveness at every level. Soon afterwards, when the job-market tanked in Silicon Valley in 2001, Dilip changed his career track yet again and decided to work initially with many high-tech refugees, who wanted expert guidance in their reinvention and reemployment. Quickly, Dilip expanded his practice to help professionals from all walks of life. Now in his fifth career, Dilip works with professionals in the Silicon Valley and around the world helping with reinvention to get their dream jobs or vocations. As a career counselor and life coach, Dilip’s focus has been career transitions for professionals at all levels and engaging them in a purposeful pursuit. Working with them, he has developed many groundbreaking approaches to career transition that are now published in five books, his weekly blogs, and hundreds of articles. He has worked with those looking for a change in their careers–re-invention–and jobs at levels ranging from CEOs to hospital orderlies. He has developed numerous seminars and workshops to complement his individual coaching for helping others with making career and life transitions. Dilip’s central theme in his practice is to help clients discover their latent genius and then build a value proposition around it to articulate a strong verbal brand. Throughout this journey, Dilip has come up with many groundbreaking practices such as an Inductive Résumé and the Genius Extraction Tool. Dilip owns two patents, has two publications in the Harvard Business Review and has led a CEO roundtable for Chief Executive on Customer Loyalty. Both Amazon and B&N list numerous reviews on his five books. Dilip is also listed in Who’s Who, has appeared several times on CNN Headline News/Comcast Local Edition, as well as in the San Francisco Chronicle in its career columns. Dilip is a contributing writer to several publications. Dilip is a sought-after speaker at public and private forums on jobs, careers, leadership challenges, and how to be an effective leader.

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