How to Ace Your Phone Interview

Landing an interview is a very rewarding part of the job application process but interviewing is hard. This is especially true when the first contact between you and your potential employer is a “getting-to-know-you” phone interview.

While in-person interviews have their own challenges, being face to face with the interviewer allows you to read their expressions and body language. By contrast, during a phone interview, you have only the different inflections of their voice to go by, and not knowing the interviewer at all, these may not be the best clues for understanding which direction the interview is taking.

However, preparing for a phone interview gives you the opportunity to stand out, make a positive impression and increase your chances of getting called for a follow up, in-person interview.

Here are a few tips that will help you prepare and ace that phone interview.

Do Some Research

Find out as much as possible about the company - visit their website, look them up on Google and on different social media platforms and get familiar wit their brands and product offerings. Also, read the job description and understand what the role is all about. This will help you get into the right frame of mind for a successful interview.

Interview Prep

Prepare for the interview by practicing commonly asked interview questions. Practice your responses on the phone (with a friend) and ask them to give you feedback on how you can improve. Prepare two questions to ask the interviewer about the role you are interviewing for. Make your own notes about the stand-out points in the job description.

Just before the interview

Find a quiet place for the interview, where there are little or no distractions. Make sure your phone is charged (but keep your phone charger nearby) and have a notepad and pen handy. Also, have your notes and a copy of your resume with you, so you can refer to them during the interview, if required. Have a glass of water at hand and make sure you are sitting comfortably. 

During the interview

Start the phone call on a strong note by thanking the interviewer for talking with you and asking them a simple question like how their day is going. A little small talk helps ease you and the interviewer into the interview and keeps the tone conversational instead of stilted and awkward. Make sure you sound genuine and enthusiastic. Keep your tone professional and polite.

Listening is as important as talking during a phone interview. Listen carefully to the interviewer and wait for the interviewer to finish their sentence before calmly giving your responses. Try not to interrupt the interviewer and if you don’t understand or didn’t hear the question, ask them to repeat it. If somehow you and the interview end up talking over each other, be the first to stop and allow them to restart the conversation. Waiting for a one-second pause after the end of each question before giving your response is a good idea. Don’t speak too fast, avoid giving very short answers but also don’t ramble on. Make jot notes about anything important the interviewer shares with you about the role or the company, that was not mentioned in the job description or that did not come up during your pre-interview research.    

At the end of the interview

Find an opportunity to ask the interview your questions. A couple of questions about the role itself and one question about the next steps in the recruitment process are always good, because you will appear enthusiastic about the role. At the end of the phone call, thank the interviewer and express your interest in the role and in the company as a workplace.

After the interview

Take down notes about the interview and your own observations of how the conversation went. Also, go over your jot notes from the interview and expand on them, so you can refer to them before your next interview. Lastly, send the interviewer a thank you email in which you reiterate your enthusiasm for the role and the company. Keep it short, polite and to the point.