I second this. My one and only phone interview was on my cell phone. :smack: Half of the time I couldn’t hear exactally what was being said, so I’m sure I sounded like a complete moron when I answered their questions. I was also in the car (although parked), so it was not a good physical place for me.
Needless to say, I didn’t get the job (or even a face-to-face interview).
This may be tricky if you have half a dozen people interviewing you on a conference call. Ok, so when I’ve had a conference call phone interview, they’ve generally traded off saying things like “Bob here, Stupid Rote Question with a Paragraph of Generic Text I Must Read” So I guess one can respond with “Well, Bob, etc. as you suggest”.
No heavy breathing (as in exhaling smoke or well, heavy breathing)
No gum chewing
No eating
No drinking of iced products that can clink against the glass or get in your mouth where you’ll want to chew the ice up.
No kids around.
No pets–lock em up (I like the freezer idea)
You want a quiet background–do NOT be tempted to go put clothes in the dryer, puree those soft tomatoes or the like. Ditto the loo (plus the acoustics in a bathroom sort of give it away).
Try not to say um or huh or any other verbal tic.
Don’t be online when you interview.
If you need to stall for time, rephrase the question and repeat it back to the caller.
I had one with questions like this that I wish had been automated. The stupidity of the questions eventually got to me and I’m sure the interviewer could tell from the tone of my voice. I did not get any further with that company.