As a business owner, I often use telephone interviews to screen candidates before inviting a shortlist to meet with me face-to-face. It’s not uncommon to interview virtually via phone or Skype, even for roles that are in your own city. And, with the growth in telecommuting, you may be applying for a role that is entirely virtual, where your place of work and the business you work for are in fact in different locations – and your main contact with your colleagues is virtual. Here are some tips to interview better when you can’t rely on in-person interactions.
PREPARATION
1. Do your online research
Just as you should for a face-to-face meeting, it’s important to do your research before a phone interview. It’s no secret that employers are checking out the online presence of potential candidates. Similarly, you should do some ‘checking out’ of your own. Regardless of the size of the business you are interviewing with, having a good understanding of the business is important.
- Look up the business website and become familiar with what the business does. Be sure to read the About Us page.
- Check whether the company has a Facebook page, whether any employees are listed on LinkedIn and if there is a Twitter account in the company name.
- Monitor the social interactions on social media sites to get a sense of what people are saying about the organisation and what the organisation itself is saying.
2. Get Personal
Do you have the name of the person who will interview you? Look them up too. You don’t want to come across as a voyeur, so avoid any personal questions, but be informed. You want to know enough to sound intelligent about the business and to ask appropriate questions when the opportunity presents itself.
3. A Good Connection and the Right Environment
It’s difficult to have a serious conversation if you don’t plan the environment. I’ve interviewed people who ‘pop out’ of the office so their employer doesn’t know they’re job seeking and end up on a sidewalk in a busy street. This does nothing to impress me. Plan your interview time and location so that you are in a quiet room with no interruptions. Switch off anything that can beep or ring. If you’re interviewing on a mobile phone, be sure to be in a location where your phone carrier has a good signal. Dropping out during an interview is frustrating for both parties and (regardless if it’s your fault or not) seems unprofessional.
THE INTERVIEW
1. Be On Time
Be on time for the appointment. If you are being called, be sure that you’re not already on a call around the expected time of the call. If you are calling them, be sure to be exactly on time as scheduled.
2. Have all the Relevant Information on hand
Be armed with the details of your contact, their title, the job description or advertised role, as well as a list of questions that you want to ask about the role. If you’re online at the time of the interview, pull up their website so that you can have easy access to any additional information you may need.
3. Voice Control
Without visual queues, you are relying on your voice and tone to provide a picture of you. Along with your answers, the tone and sound of your voice can inform the employer. Many women do themselves a disservice (both for interviews and business in general) by not sounding confident or, in some cases, mature in their tone. Get feedback. Ask a friend to have a pretend conversation with you and tell you how you sound.
- Do you ‘um’ and ‘ah’ a lot?
- Do you sound little-girl like?
- Do you speak too quickly or too slowly?
- Do you sound confident?
Good vocal skills will serve you in many ways in your career, not just in interviews; so don’t hesitate to invest in a voice coach. (I use my voice a lot in business for recording interviews/podcasts and see training for my voice just as important to my career as training myself in marketing or finances. Even if you don’t use your voice as I do, sounding great can’t hurt your image.) Again, this is not a tip only for phone interview, but is especially relevant since your interview was virtual. Follow up the call with a thank you note to the interviewer. It shows courtesy and helps you be remembered.
