As a result of the economic climate and the level of unemployment, jobs that are being advertised are receiving a huge increase in applications. The interview process is evolving to cope with the level of interested applicants and we are now seeing telephone interviews becoming a popular addition to the interview process.
The telephone interview should be taken seriously as they allow companies to reduce their ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’ piles more quickly and results in a more manageable shortlist for face-to-face interviews. It is also your opportunity to get a feel for whether you want the job. People often forget that interviews are a two way process. You are interviewing them as well!
Making a good impression over the phone is a much harder feat, so to increase your chances of getting a face-to-face interview, you have make sure you are prepared.
Telephone interviews should be approached with the same attitude as a formal interview – just without the suit! According to a survey by Changeboard, there are many applicants who haven’t embraced this concept and there have been reports of candidates eating, driving, bathing, breastfeeding, dog-walking and even going to the loo during telephone interviews.
Also, just because you are on the phone, doesn’t mean you should talk to the interviewer as though you were chatting with one of your friends – colloquial isn’t the right approach. Would you go into a face-to-face interview and say ‘Yeah mate, innit’??
Top 5 tips for telephone interviews:
1. Treat the telephone interview as though it was a face to face interview. Don’t rush through it – take your time to listen to the questions and concentrate on your answers. Do your research, ask questions.
2. Make sure you are not going to be interrupted during your interview. No background noise, no children, no animals! Use a landline and put your mobile on silent – much as they aren’t judging you on your taste in music, they don’t want to hear the remix version of your favourite song going off in the background.
3. Avoid being colloquial – it’s still an interview.
4. Avoid doing other activities during the interview. You don’t want anything to distract your attention (or the interviewer’s attention for that matter) and it doesn’t portray you as professional. Avoid being in the supermarket – the interviewer doesn’t want to hear the special promotion in aisle 3. They probably don’t want to hear your child screaming in the background, and chances are they don’t want to hear the announcement for the train arriving in Platform 2 shortly either!
5. Show enthusiasm and be upbeat! The interviewer expects to hear that you want this job and in a telephone interview what makes a critical difference is giving a positive vibe down the phone – whilst being clear, concise and coherent!
Good luck!
Top 5 Telehone Interview tips
As a result of the economic climate and the level of unemployment, jobs that are being advertised are receiving a huge increase in applications. The interview process is evolving to cope with the level of interested applicants and we are now seeing telephone interviews becoming a popular addition to the interview process.
The telephone interview should be taken seriously as they allow companies to reduce their ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’ piles more quickly and results in a more manageable shortlist for face-to-face interviews. It is also your opportunity to get a feel for whether you want the job. People often forget that interviews are a two way process. You are interviewing them as well!
Making a good impression over the phone is a much harder feat, so to increase your chances of getting a face-to-face interview, you have make sure you are prepared.
Telephone interviews should be approached with the same attitude as a formal interview – just without the suit! According to a survey by Changeboard, there are many applicants who haven’t embraced this concept and there have been reports of candidates eating, driving, bathing, breastfeeding, dog-walking and even going to the loo during telephone interviews.
Also, just because you are on the phone, doesn’t mean you should talk to the interviewer as though you were chatting with one of your friends – colloquial isn’t the right approach. Would you go into a face-to-face interview and say ‘Yeah mate, innit’??
Top 5 tips for telephone interviews:
1. Treat the telephone interview as though it was a face to face interview. Don’t rush through it – take your time to listen to the questions and concentrate on your answers. Do your research, ask questions.
2. Make sure you are not going to be interrupted during your interview. No background noise, no children, no animals! Use a landline and put your mobile on silent – much as they aren’t judging you on your taste in music, they don’t want to hear the remix version of your favourite song going off in the background.
3. Avoid being colloquial – it’s still an interview.
4. Avoid doing other activities during the interview. You don’t want anything to distract your attention (or the interviewer’s attention for that matter) and it doesn’t portray you as professional. Avoid being in the supermarket – the interviewer doesn’t want to hear the special promotion in aisle 3. They probably don’t want to hear your child screaming in the background, and chances are they don’t want to hear the announcement for the train arriving in Platform 2 shortly either!
As a result of the economic climate and the level of unemployment, jobs that are being advertised are receiving a huge increase in applications. The interview process is evolving to cope with the level of interested applicants and we are now seeing telephone interviews becoming a popular addition to the interview process.The telephone interview should be taken seriously as they allow companies to reduce their ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’ piles more quickly and results in a more manageable shortlist for face-to-face interviews. It is also your opportunity to get a feel for whether you want the job. People often forget that interviews are a two way process. You are interviewing them as well!
Making a good impression over the phone is a much harder feat, so to increase your chances of getting a face-to-face interview, you have make sure you are prepared.
Telephone interviews should be approached with the same attitude as a formal interview – just without the suit! According to a survey by Changeboard, there are many applicants who haven’t embraced this concept and there have been reports of candidates eating, driving, bathing, breastfeeding, dog-walking and even going to the loo during telephone interviews.
Also, just because you are on the phone, doesn’t mean you should talk to the interviewer as though you were chatting with one of your friends – colloquial isn’t the right approach. Would you go into a face-to-face interview and say ‘Yeah mate, innit’??
Top 5 tips for telephone interviews:
- Treat the telephone interview as though it was a face to face interview. Don’t rush through it – take your time to listen to the questions and concentrate on your answers. Do your research, ask questions.
- Make sure you are not going to be interrupted during your interview. No background noise, no children, no animals! Use a landline and put your mobile on silent – much as they aren’t judging you on your taste in music, they don’t want to hear the remix version of your favourite song going off in the background.
- Avoid being colloquial – it’s still an interview.
- Avoid doing other activities during the interview. You don’t want anything to distract your attention (or the interviewer’s attention for that matter) and it doesn’t portray you as professional. Avoid being in the supermarket – the interviewer doesn’t want to hear the special promotion in aisle 3. They probably don’t want to hear your child screaming in the background, and chances are they don’t want to hear the announcement for the train arriving in Platform 2 shortly either!
- Show enthusiasm and be upbeat! The interviewer expects to hear that you want this job and in a telephone interview what makes a critical difference is giving a positive vibe down the phone – whilst being clear, concise and coherent!
Good luck!
5. Show enthusiasm and be upbeat! The interviewer expects to hear that you want this job and in a telephone interview what makes a critical difference is giving a positive vibe down the phone – whilst being clear, concise and coherent!
Good luck!
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The Office for National Statistics has reported this month that unemployment figures have risen again. The job market is a tough one for job seekers and it looks set to get tougher and with Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) coming into force on 1st October 2011, things may change again.