How to Prepare for a Phone Interview

Do you have an upcoming interview? Be it audio or video, this article is written for you. This article will show you how to prepare for a phone interview, ensure you read it to the end .

The truth is that more companies are adopting a more convenient and cost-effective means to hire talents while still attracting the best talents possible. This is a welcome development especially for millennials who enjoy any opportunity to work from their comfort. So be expectant as more and more companies will soon ply this route.

Whether the interview is via a phone call, Skype, Zoom or any other available platform, it is not an excuse to be complacent and unprepared for your big day. This article covers all you need to do to ace that phone interview.

The next 15 steps will answer the question “How Do I Prepare for a Phone Interview”, follow them religiously and you’ll have a successful phone interview.

• Read your Resume/CV: A lot of people don’t take this serious but it could be the most important thing you need to sell yourself effectively. Reading your resume keeps you updated with the things (Skill, Experiences, Achievements, and Opportunities, etc) that you have written and also prepares you to answer any question concerning the things you have written down on your CV. You can also read your resume to be sure that there are no errors/mistakes.

• Research: Read about the organization and the industry they are into, find out the latest developments or challenges rocking the company or the industry. Find out recent successes or failures and see how your strengths can align with what the company is after. Remember, it is always gold when you are talking to a recruiter from a place of value; speaking to them about their needs and wants and how you can render effective solutions. So do your research.

• Get dressed as if you are going out to the company office to be interviewed: This helps you create an air of seriousness and consciousness of what you are about to do.  You can go on your full corporate dress code (especially if it is a video call) or wear something that just gives you the much-needed allowance to be serious and still be free enough to sell yourself.

• Plan your interview: Have written points that you can always refer to, write out questions you wish to ask or ideas you need to expand more on.

• Get yourself a good sitting position: Avoid pacing around or lying on the couch. Get a proper sitting position.

• Go to a quiet space: It’ll be best to use a space void of noise and distractions. Having an interview in an area where there’s distraction will not give you the necessary focus you need and worse, it’ll send the wrong message to your interviewer(s) that you are not serious.

• Ensure your phone is fully charged: Ideally, the interview is not supposed to drain your battery but you can never go wrong having your phone fully charged or to a good percentage. You don’t want to take chances, do you?

• Ensure you have a pen, paper, and a copy of your resume/CV at your reach: Pen and Paper to take notes and jot possible points, your resume checks up details you’ll need to highlight or reiterate.

• Silence all notifications and incoming calls on your phone.

• Use Earphones or Pods: This is to eliminate background noise. It also frees your arms so you can use it for more demonstration which helps ideas flow (don’t you agree?).

• Always remember to maintain a sense of professionalism: From the very beginning of the call, understand that the call is professional, not casual, and treat it as such till the very end of the interview. Say something like “Good morning/afternoon, this is Mr.Emmanuel Ugadu speaking”, “Excuse me, Mr. Peters I don’t seem to understand your question, can you rephrase your statement or explain further so I can understand your point.”

• If it’s a panel interview, don’t be afraid to ask for the names o the people interviewing you and ensure to write down their names for reference purposes. Also try to attach the names to the voices, use the names you have written down to address each interviewer.

• Relax: Try not to tense yourself. Do not be in a haste to answer any question; if there’s a question you did not hear clearly or you don’t understand, don’t be shy to ask the interviewer to repeat or rephrase the question for you. Take your time to articulate your answers, there’s nothing wrong with that.

• Have a glass of water next to you in case you need a  drink after talking for  awhile and instead of walking around to get water, you already have it with you.

• At the end of the interview, thank the interviewer(s) for his/their time. Send a follow-up thank-you email whether you got the job on the spot or you were told that they’ll get back to you.

So there you have it; HOW TO PREPARE FOR A PHONE INTERVIEW AND ACE IT!

If you found this helpful, do well to share it with your friends, you never know who you would be helping.