Step 3: How To Pass The Phone Interview
You've successfully landed a phone interview by your soon-to-be employer. But are you prepared to intelligently answer all their tough questions...correctly? What questions will they most likely ask on the phone interview?
Follow all instructions on this page and the next.
What's A Phone Interview And Why Is It So Important To Pass?
Screening Process
Many employers are now making job seekers pass a Phone Interview prior to scheduling a Face-To-Face Interview. Why? To weed out unqualified job seekers who applied for the job. If you successfully pass the phone interview, you'll be invited to meet with the potential employer for a sit-down face-to-face interview.
How Will The Hiring Manager Usually Contact Me To Schedule The Phone Interview?
By email (usually)
After you have filled out a job application and submitted your resume and cover letter to the potential employer, an employer will make contact with you. Most of the time, a Hiring Manager will email you to set up a day and time to do the Phone Interview. However, there are occasions when an employer will just call you out of the blue with no expected warning (be prepared)!
What If An Employer Calls Without Warning To Do The Phone Interview?
Schedule a call back
If a Human Resource Recruiter just calls you without warning, ask to schedule a call back. A respectable company, seeking talented team members to add to their organization, will generally email you first to schedule a time to talk. Some companies will try to throw you off guard to see how quickly you think on your feet. Don't fall for the trap! Politely and professionally, ask for the recruiter's name, company, job title and phone number and ask if they can call you back at a specific time and day.
By scheduling a call back, this allows you to better be prepared. If you've applied for a lot of jobs, you might not remember exactly what job the recruiter was calling about. This will give you time to go online, research the position you applied for and do more research on that specific company.
What Are Employers Evaluating You On During A Phone Interview?
Communication skills, intelligence, and job qualifications
Phone Interviews are more common in today's job market than ever before. You might be more qualified for a particular position, but if you can't communicate clearly and effectively, you might not be called back for a face-to-face interview.
During a Phone Interview, employers are evaluating how well you communicate, your level of intelligence in general, and last but not least, your job qualifications. Remember to take your time answering questions, breath, and give real life examples of how you solved complex issues.
What Are Two Questions You Should Ask Before The Employer Starts Asking You Their Questions?
Interview Tip Strategy
Once the phone interview starts, it will eventually dive into the hiring manager asking you lots of tough questions. Before this stage in the process happens, you need to open the interview up with two very important questions of your own! What are the questions you need to ask the employer very quickly before they begin to ask you their questions?
Answer:
-
"Could you tell me a little more about the roles and responsibilities of this particular position; more than what I was able to research online?"
-
"What are some of the greatest strengths that your most successful employees have in this role?"
Why ask these questions early on?
If you understand what type of employee they are looking for, what character strengths they seek, and what successful job seeker they are expecting to hire, the quicker you can mimic that type of employee when they begin to ask their interview questions.
What Typical Questions Does The Hiring Manager Ask During A Phone Interview?
Questions can vary
Here are some of the most common questions asked by a potential employer during a Phone Interview:
-
Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
-
Looking at your resume, I see you're currently employed at XYZ company. Why are you looking at leaving your current employer?
-
Looking over your resume, I see your last job was several weeks/months ago. Can you tell me why you are no longer with your previous company and why you've been out of the workforce for so long?
-
What do you know about our company?
-
How did you hear about this job position?
-
Why did you apply for this position?
-
Tell me, what do you know and understand about the roles and responsibilities of this specific job position?
-
What would you say are your greatest areas of strength?
-
What would others say are your areas of weakness?
-
What is your salary expectation for this position within our company?
Topic's Covered on This Page?
1. What's a phone interview and why it's important?
2. How will hiring managers contact you to schedule a Phone Interview?
3. What to do if a potential employer calls you without warning or notice.
4. What do employers evaluate you on during a Phone Interview?
5. What are two questions you need to ask before the Phone Interview Starts?
6. What questions does an employer ask during the Phone Interview?
7. How to properly answer tough Phone Interview questions?
8. What questions should you ask at the end of a Phone Interview?
Apply, apply, apply
Want access to the next page for detailed tips on how to successfully pass face-to-face interviews? We'll get you assigned to a Certified Career Interview Coach who will work with you one-on-one to prepare you for interviews. Click "Get Access" button and make payment for the "Interview Coaching".
