How To Improve Your Phone Interviewing Results

by Randall Scasny, Director, FS5 Consulting Business Card

Getting to Yes. The Psyschology of Phone Interviews. Gauging Employer's Need


Employers screen job candidates prior to inviting them to their office for a face-to-face job interview. While this screening process can include emailing the candidate with a list of pre-interview questions, the employer usually calls the job candidate on the telephone for a brief phone interview. Success in phone interviews is critical to getting on the employer's "short list" of candidates.

Since the telephone interview is important, how do job candidates improve their chances of winning an onsite interview? Well, the first step is to understand how the employer got to the point of contacting you for a screening interview. For starters, they gathered a list of job candidates from resume databases, external job postings, social media profiles, employee referrals and personal contacts. They are looking for available candidates who are actively searching for a job and appear to be qualified. They prune down this list to ten or twenty candidates who look the best.

Once the interview time is arranged, the employer will call you. After introductions are completed, the employer will ask a series of questions to determine if you are a reasonable match for the job. How you answer these questions will determine if you are invited for an onsite interview.

There are several things to keep in mind about phone interviews. They are:

The Importance of Yes: In establishing any kind of relationship -- business, going to the dentist, romance -- how does it start and how does the relationship become deeper? It starts with someone asking something and the other person answering "yes." Being mindful of this fact of human nature can help anyone in a phone interview. Crafting your answers so you answer "yes" means you are winning. "No" answers mean you're not.

The Interviewer's Perspective: The interviewer has only two ways to approach phone interviews: elimination or invitation. Most interviewers want to eliminate you to prune down their list of job candidates. But those interviewers who are sincerely interested in you will find ways to invite you to their office. So, within the first 30 seconds of the call, understand what the caller's motivation is: out or in. A screening-out interview is a red flag for a lot of competition. An "invite you in" phone interview suggests special needs and little competition. You have the freedom to give expansive answers.

Gauge Their Need Not Their Interest: If they have a great need, they will ask interesting questions because they are really hiring and are pressed to see people in person. If they don't have much need, they will ask less interesting questions. Understanding a phone interview in terms of their need rather than their interest gives you more information about how they think.