Tips for a successful Telephone Interview

1. To get rid of the long list of candidates for an in-person round.

2. To save the time and money spend on whole interview process.

3. To interview the out station candidates.

Here we are providing some tips to get success in a telephone interview:

          For a telephone interview, get a time when you can easily attend the call and spend a time of 30 minutes at least. You also need to choose a time when you can give your best. Some people choose it in the morning and some in the evening. If the interviewer asks you to talk immediately then you can say "you are in middle of something and need some time", even if it is just 15 or 20 minutes. During that time get your stuff, get a right place and relax yourself.

2. Prepare well:

          Do preparation of the telephone interview same as you prepare for your in-person interview because success in this will takes you to next level. You must do the following preparation for your telephone interview:

1. Research about the company and work culture of it.

2. Research about the job applied and kind of responsibilities for it.

3. Search for the supposed to interview questions and prepare their answer.

3. Practice and more practice:

          Practice makes perfect. So practice as more as you can. As it is a telephone interview and your voice will represent you more than anything else. So practice to talk clearly, keep your tone right on phone. Ask your friend or any family member to call you and ask questions, then get their feedback about your voice over phone. Record you call and listen to know about your presence over phone. This will increase your confidence also.

4. Get all basic stuffs:

          Before the interview start, take a copy of your resume, pen and paper to make notes, glass of water in case you need during the call. Also keep your work details and the role you played in each project so that you can easily answer any question regarding these.

5. Take a calm and peaceful place:

          Make sure you are at a place where nobody disturbs you. Get rid of the extra feature of you mobile like call waiting tone, notification tone etc. Switch off the TV, music system and any other phone if you have. Take your place 15 minute before the call, check everything and relax.

You might be interested in -  Common Interview Questions asked by HR 

6. Be confident:

          Be confident during the call. Start with a professional introduction like as soon as you pick up the phone introduce yourself with you name like "Hi,  speaking". It saved the interviewer to ask if he/she is talking to the related person or not.

7. Be professional:

          Though it is a telephone interview and the interviewer can't see you but it doesn't mean you can take it so easy that you lay down on sofa or checking your emails or Facebook profile during the call. Be professional and dress like a professional as you dressed up for an in-person interview. All this brings the feeling of professionalism and help you to answer the questions with confidence. 

8. Listen well:

          Give your full attention on the interviewer and listen the interviewer with carefully so that you can understand each question. But in case you couldn't hear or understand any question then no harm to ask to repeat the question instead of answering on assumptions. Whenever interviewer speaks don't interrupt and wait them to ask the complete question, just say 'OK', 'yes' and 'right' at intervals. These all shows your listening skills.

Also Read: 10 questions to ask to the interviewer

9. Take your time to answer:

          Never answer any question in hurry. After listening the question and understand it well, say 'OK' and take a gap of few seconds to respond. It will help you to answer the question well. Keep your answer short but long enough to answer the question well.

10.  Things not to do during the call:

          1. Don't eat, drink, smoke or chew anything.

          2. Don't bad mouth former employee.

          3. Don't take too much time to answer.

          4. Don't watch TV or check emails.

          5. Don't be too serious, smile in between.

You might be interested in - Thinks to do and not to do during an interview

11. After the interview:

          Within 24/48 hours, send a thanks note to the interviewer for the opportunity and with the summarize details of your experience during the call. If you really interested in the job, then show your interest and send them notes about how you can contribute to the company if you got this job. Send some notes about your work that you did in past that are related to the job.