Phone interview for job

In My Humble Opinion
1

It’s been a while since I’ve looked for a job, and since that time it seems the phone interview has become a common tool. While I can imagine what would happen in such an interview, I’ve never experienced it. What can one expect? Will it be much the same as a face-to-face interview … or is it primarily more preliminary in nature? I have been told to expect it will take 30 minutes.

And why is it now done in a situation where the employer and applicant are both in the same city?

Any insights or tips appreciated.

2

A couple of the reasons it is done, even when you are in the same city is scheduling. Phone interviews can go much faster. The other biggie is discrimination claims. It is much harder for a denied candidate to claim racism, ageism, weightism, etc. if the company can say they were only aware of you as a resume and a voice on the phone.

I’ve had several phone interviews and have scored jobs that way. My work is project-based so I am hunting fairly frequently. You can expect the standard questions that you would get in a personal interview but know that the people at the other end are usually listening harder than they do in a face-to-face interview so be sure to know your story about what you can offer them. They will have looked at your resume closely too so you can expect them to refer to the experience and interests you have listed there.

What I say here is based on the feedback I have received and the knowledge I have gained interviewing job candidates myself. I am sure that others can offer you more insight.

Good luck to you.

3

Don’t be surprised if you are asked a lot of very stilted, scripted questions, some of which may not be particularly relevant to you. (Although that may be a function of some of where I’ve applied, rather than a universal “phone interview” thing).

Everyone gets the same questions, although follow-ups are possible.

4

I’ve had two phone interviews. One was a phone-only interview for a scholarship internship while in college (which I got), and one was a Skype-clone interview for a receptionist position in a rather large law firm (which I didn’t get, but I did get a “real” interview for as well).

I never knew the reasons for having a phone interview myself, but that’s what they wanted, so I always supposed it was a test of how flexible and technologically adaptable a person was. I have no idea if that was the real reason. It was no skin off my back to agree to have them. I do recall that the one for the receptionist was at something like 7:45 in the morning, which makes me wonder if they don’t do that to try and weed people out also.

As for the follow up in-person interviews; for the internship, it consisted of me showing up and them shaking my hand and telling me that I had made it in, so I’m pretty sure that was a formality. For the receptionist, it was a traditional interview, and the person interviewing me was I think one of the firm’s lawyers, where the telephone interviewer had been someone from either HR or their office staff. That in-person interview was the most formal thing I’ve ever been part of in my life. I felt very young. The gentleman only referenced a few things from the phone interview, but did bring up a lot of the info on my resume.

As for the phone interviews themselves, I dressed to the nines for each, had a list of bulleted points about the place that I wanted to make sure I hit (those damnable “talking points” and “keywords” that you’re supposed to drop everywhere like a robot…)

I practiced on the phone with a friend for the phone one, and I had a relative who was good at Skype work through setting up the not-Skype program with me, and then practiced locations and settings to make it look the best.

I was MUCH more comfortable with the phone only interview. For the video one, I couldn’t get rid of the window which showed me, and it made me really nervous and self-conscious. I tried to get past it, but I think that’s a large part of what derailed that one. If I could have done the video one in a way that I only saw the interviewer lady, I think I would have been a lot more comfortable, and done a lot better.

I think it hit me worse because I had been so comfortable with the phone interview from before. I guess I didn’t do as badly as I felt, since I did get a second interview, but it FELT horrible - fakey and cliched and just bad. I felt like I was acting badly in a badly scripted direct-to-DVD release of How Not to Interview.

:rolleyes:

5

It depends. I do contract work in the pharmaceutical industry and phone ‘screens’ are always preliminary. It’s usually to clarify certain items in my resume before bringing me in (or not) for a face to face interview, which is usually a half day affair (actually there’s a phone screen with the agency and then another one with the company itself). I have my resume, their job description (and questions I have about it), and a pad of paper handy. Whoever you talk to will probably indicate whether or not it’s preliminary.

I’ve found this to be true.

6

Eh, I wouldn’t worry too much. Just consider it to be a standard interview.

I’m still fairly young (30), but every professional job I’ve ever had started first with a resume, then with a phone interview.

The phone-interviews that went well led to in-person interviews.

Just treat it like a standard interview. Make sure you have a quiet place to speak, and a reliable phone/wireless connection.

Of course you don’t need to dress for it, but a lot of people still do simply on the grounds that it puts them in the interviewing mindset.

7

I’ll tell you why. It is extremely time consuming, especially in a small company, to bring in a candidate and have them meet with 3-5 people. The phone screen is designed to quickly weed out candidates who would be a waste of time.

Often the phone screen is performed by some HR goon or other low level functionary. Typically they will be looking to make sure you meet the basic skills requirements and don’t come across as a jerk or weirdo.

Example of what not to do. I had a phone interview with Ernst & Young. The interviewer seemed like an idiot. Especially when she asked me “what did you think when you received a call from E&Y” as if I won the lottery or something. I responded, “I think I’ve already worked for two of the Big-4 and based on this conversation, I’m not looking for the trifecta.”

8

I had several phone interviews for my current job. Part of the reason was that several of the people I had to interview with were in a different state (I had to interview with 6 people to get this damned job).

The phone interviews were really no different than face to face interviews, except for the fact that I could not use my handsome face and easy smile as assets. :slight_smile:

9

In my experience, if even one of the 4-6 people in the final interview pool is not close enough to reasonably make it to a face-to-face interview, than the entire panel will be interviewed over the phone to make for an equal playing field.

For government jobs, It’s similar to a regular interview but you are judged on a point system in many cases. To make the points you need to hit the key words and key experiences even if I seems stupid to you. If they ask you about management experience, one week managing two employees may get you the same check mark as ten years managing sixty employees.

10

Seconding msmith537

At least at my company, the phone interview is more of a “phone screening”. Basically, is your resume more fiction than non-fiction, and is it worth our time and yours for you to come in and spend half the day talking with 5-7 different people.

11

Thanks, everyone. I was planning on taking the call in my car in a nearby parking lot … I doubt the person will know where I am. But I do need to be away from my office. I always look spiffy, so the dressing up part isn’t an issue. :smiley:

I wish I knew if the person was an HR person or the actual department where I’d be working. I always assume it’s the direct supervisor. I’ve never been interviewed by an HR entity in my life, but as I say, I’ve been at my current job a long time.

12

I am a manager at a smallish company (50-60 employees) and we like to do phone interviews as a weed-out process. If a candidate is unsuitable we can often screen them out in the first 5-10 minutes of a phone interview, saving everyone involved a lot of time and trouble.

I also have noticed this is more prevalent now than it used to be, but I’m not sure what is driving the trend. Maybe when the economy is down and there are more applicants, it is more important to find ways to take larger numbers applicants and figure out which 3 you want to interview in person.

Obesity is not a protected class. Cite.

13

I had to do a phone interview just yesterday, actually. I was the interviewer, not the interviewee.

I usually just use it as an opportunity to get to know the applicant before we fly them out for an on-site interview. Usually, by the time I talk to them, I already know if they can do the work I need (since I’ve already seen their portfolio), so I really just want to get a feel for them to see if they’d fit in here. I throw together a few questions, but those are mostly just to see if they really know what they’re talking about. I save the tough questions for the on-site (assuming there’s going to be one).

14

I did a phone interview a few years ago and it was a pre-screen type deal also. The HR woman asked standard type interview questions as well as some very specific questions to the job to determine my level of knowledge.

I was actually invited for a face to face interview but the upper salary range for the position was about $5,000 less than I was currently making, and the costs of working there would be much higher.

There are lots of people who would have overlooked that for an opportunity to work there (it was a fashion based job) but I was not one of them.

15

Just ask. You can put it in terms of asking your interviewer what they do.

When we were hiring earlier this year (for pretty high level tech jobs) I did a lot of phone interviews. They were screens for the permanent openings, both for the reasons already given and because we recruit nationally, and don’t want to fly someone in to have them be obvious mismatches. I hired an intern for the summer phone only.
I definitely customized the questions for the candidate, to see if the seemingly relevant experience really was. I mostly interviewed students, so a lot was asking about relevant course work, projects, and their dissertation research.

Just make sure you have a good phone connection, won’t be interrupted, and that the wind isn’t blowing too loudly. And good luck.

16

CWG, I am aware that obesity is not a protected class. However, discrimination against such people does indeed exist, as does discrimination against those who are beautiful/ugly, tall/short, etc.

At a consulting firm I contracted with, they were actually quite explicit about this subject. Their company rule was to perform all interviews over the phone, to rule out such discrimination whether there was a legal precedent for it or not. They felt it was important to make sure that such claims would never occur for the company. I laud them for it, even if I no longer work for them.

17
  • To level the playing field for those applicants who are not.
  • Because one of the interviewers happens to be someplace else.
  • Because it’s a bloody big city and going to an interview can easily take up the whole morning.
  • To make it easier for applicants who already have jobs.
  • Because it’s a job where appearance is completely unimportant.
  • Because it’s a job with lots of phone-time, thus phone-voice is very important.
    I’ve had both preliminary and final telephone interviews. Usually, the process I go through is:
  • Call or email from an agent.
  • Preliminary phone interview with agent, unless (s)he already has all the information needed.
  • Phone interview with hiring manager.

For a Spaniard it’s hard in that we’re used to making lots of “I follow what you’re saying” gestures and noises and the techniques for that are different on the phone than in person, but other than that, it’s the same as in person but with less travel involved.

18

Phone interviews run the gamut, just like in person ones.

Some are simply screenings done by HR goons in order to cull the herd and identify the handful of best candidates to explore further. These can be very brief or they can contain a bunch of scripted questions. Usually they are just trying to identify things like salary requirements, accuracy of job history and answering resume questions. It’s a quick way to cut out totally incompetent people and people who might be vastly overqualified.

Other phone interviews are more like those you might have on a second interview. You may speak with the position’s immediate manager and higher level employees. They would grill you on the more standard interview questions and take the time to go in depth on the job’s description and answer any questions. Again this is just a way to further cull the herd before wasting any additional time for both parties.

Lastly, you might have a phone interview with senior management as a final step when they are headquartered elsewhere and/or working remotely or traveling. Senior management sometimes feels the need to be involved in the process even if they aren’t really going to be directly involved with the hiring or work. Because this is merely a formality in most cases and phone interview is the least painful for all parties.

There are a lot of reasons why companies prefer them. I think EEO concerns are pretty low on the list for most companies. The reality is that time is short and phone interviews are easy to schedule and reschedule, they aren’t costly and don’t require any security protocols. Office buildings, particularly in major cities, have become walled castles for the most part. The days of stopping by in person to drop off a resume are long dead and it’s very difficult to even enter a building without clearance let alone access a businesses receptionist. Phone interviews allow companies to maintain this walled garden approach. Once you’ve been invited into the castle it tends to be a sign that they’ve already made up their mind about you. Interviews can be disruptive for the entire office and allocating meeting space is often a major hurdle, so companies are very hesitant to commit to an in-person interview because of the hassle involved.

19

Thanks, everyone! Your information and advice was very helpful. The interview was with the woman who would be my supervisor, and her questions were very open-ended. She said she wanted to get to know the person behind the resume. So I was allowed to talk at length about what I’ve done and why my experience would be beneficial to her company. I’ve very hopeful of an in-person interview. I’ll keep you all informed!