10 Keys to Telephone Interview Success Guide (Tips)

Introduction To Telephone Interview Tips:

Most candidates take things casually when it comes to a telephone interview. They think so because the most value is being given to face-to-face interviews and interactions. But what they forget is if they do well in a telephone interview, they will get a ticket for the HR interview directly.

Thus, they don’t prepare. They take up the phone call interview anywhere. And they fail to clear the round. Then they wonder what went wrong.

Even if you have great qualifications, excellent communication skill and years of suitable experience in a field, you can’t succeed until you prepare. Feeling complacent maybe suitable for other pursuits but not when you’re aiming at cracking the telephone interview.

Remember, a telephone interview may seem an easy process and you may think that you would go through it without sufficient practice and know-how; most people fail to pass the telephone round.

HR recruiters who select people through interviews prefer to do a telephone interview round so that they can screen the best for face-to-face interactions. It saves time, effort and monetary investment. And also they’re not able to see you directly.

So they judge you through your tonal voice, the fluency of communication and how relevant you’re in speaking in a given scenario. Thus, if you practice and prepare well in advance, then it would be much easier for you to crack the telephone interview over the phone.

The following are the comprehensive list of telephone interview tips to help you succeed in an interview. But remember this telephone interview tips will work if you will work. So, be attentive, take a pen and paper and write anything that comes to your mind after reading this article.

Let’s get started. These are the success formula for performing at your best.

Telephone Interview Tips:

1. Power-dress

It would seem like that an unimportant addition. But this is one of the most important things to consider while giving a telephone interview. The way you dress, you feel the same way. If you’re in your pajamas and casual shirt while giving the telephone interview round, you would sound casual.

To give yourself the boost, you need to wear in a way as if you’re about to appear for the face-to-face interview. It may sound silly. But the way we look has a great impact on our psyche.

Our sub-conscious mind can’t judge what’s real and what we’re faking. Thus, if you dress in formal shirt and trouser and look impeccable, your mind will do its trick and you will sound sincere, professional and noteworthy.

So, before you’re about to take the conversation, plan ahead about what you would wear during the interaction. If you don’t believe these things, there’s no harm in trying it once. Try it out and you would see for yourself what amazing impact it would create while talking over the phone.

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2. Create a confidence zone

It’s an NLP technique. First, decide where you will give the telephone interview. You can take the call at your home (best) or else you can take the call in your professional arena.

No matter where you decide to interact for the telephone interview round, carry a chalk. Draw a big circle on the floor wherever possible. Make sure no-one sees you doing it because they may think you’re insane. After drawing the circle stand within the circle and take out your phone and act as if you’re speaking confidently.

Feel confident and feel like an expert. If you practice 5-10 times for maybe around 5-10 minutes each time, it would help you speak confidently when the actual interaction will take place. Make sure you practice at least an hour before the actual interaction. Once you receive the actual call, go to the place of your choosing, stand within the circle and speak.

You would say a drastic difference in your voice, tone, confidence, and fluency. This is one of the best techniques to use before you get ready for telephone interview process.

Let’s move to the next telephone interview tips.

3. Make an agenda

What would you do when you’re about to prepare for a meeting? You carefully analyze all the points you need to discuss in a meeting and go over and write down the important subjects you would like to discuss or want the members to discuss.

What if you do the same before the telephone interview round? It would help you remain relevant during the conversation. Before the scheduled time, make sure to write down what to speak about, how you would express your expertise and how you would convince the recruiters about your candidature.

If you know beforehand what to speak about, it would help you deal with HR recruiters effectively and will increase your chances of going to the next step.

4. Prepare

Preparation is the cornerstone of all success. You know it. We know it. But very few actually take the advice to heart and implement. Why not try it out in this case? Preparation doesn’t mean putting long hours in memorizing and trying to remember typical phrases. Rather you need to find a professional approach.

Make a questionnaire of all the possible questions that can be asked of you during the telephone interview. And then carve out answers in the most suitable manner. You don’t need to answer to each question word by word but you need to at least pick the direction of thought and express yourself. It takes time and effort and so plan beforehand.

If you have a telephone interview questions round right in front of you, start at least one week ahead. It would give you time to articulate answers to the questions that may seem difficult to you and you will also get time to practice.

Don’t take this casually. This is the single most critical factor for succeeding in telephone interviews but most people skip it and then wonder why they’re not selected for the face-to-face interaction.

Let’s move to the next telephone interview tips.

5. Review the job-description

A job description is the agenda recruiters follow to screen the candidates. Thus you need to carefully analyze the key-words and what the company is looking for. Do you think your profile and experience are suitable for the role? If yes, go deep and find out the background of why this role exists.

Ask yourself what will happen to the company if this role disappears? How would it affect the company and its return on investment (ROI)? How difficult is it to perform this role? How much growth can this role offer to one candidate? Answering these questions is important.

You may not be able to answer all the questions by yourself, but you can jot down and always ask the recruiters while having an interaction. Recruiters like people who have done their own due diligence and showed sincerity.

People who talk casually and agree to all terms of the recruiters are not being liked because recruiters don’t see the depth in them. You don’t need to do it to show the recruiters that you’re sincere. Rather do your research on the basis of the job description for yourself.

6. Take a short course on telephonic etiquette

Most people don’t have time to prepare so much. But if you take a short course on telephonic etiquette, it would help you in the long run. Few things you would see after doing the course.

You would see that you’re not jumping on the recruiters’ words while they’re speaking; you’re taking time to listen and then responding. You would also understand the value of pause while speaking and will not use it improperly.

You would also know the value of tone and voice so that by hearing it the interviewers get a good vibe. You would also be able to say thanks, please and be polite wherever necessary without sounding desperate.

You don’t need to hire a telephone interview expert right now. Simply watch free videos to learn. Go to YouTube and search for telephonic etiquette and you would get thousands of videos on the same. You can learn and master telephonic interaction which will ultimately guide you in all your important conversations over the phone.

Let’s move to the next telephone interview tips.

7. Handle the silence

The most difficult thing is to handle silence on the phone. As you can’t see the recruiters, you may feel awkward while talking to a recruiter when they’re silent for more than a comfortable level. They may test you on your interpersonal skill or else they may be jotting down things you’re spoken for screening purpose. So, don’t worry about silences on the phone.

Whatever questions you’re asked, answer them and then stop. You don’t need to add any filler to become comfortable in dealing with the silence. Simply remember 3 things while dealing with silence. First, be concise. Don’t speak too much. If you speak too much, it may bore the recruiters and your talk may tend toward irrelevance.

Second, be clear about what you’re speaking. Don’t just speak out whatever comes into mind. That’s why doing the practice beforehand is very important. Third, be confident about your abilities.

Remember, this interaction is a win-win situation and you may disagree if you feel you’re not receiving the salary and position you deserve. While disagreeing recruiters may remain silent for some time to test you, but hold your nerve and don’t try to fill up the silence.

8. Confirm your interest

You know only words are not important. What you leave behind non-verbally is also equally important. If you’re interested in the job role, it would not only be depicted in words alone. Show your enthusiasm over the phone. Show energy that if you would get this job you would be able to add so much value to yourself and to the company.

As recruiters are also not able to see you over the phone, they would pick your enthusiasm and give you numbers for your strong interest in the role. Yes, preparation is very important. But it’s also important to ask wholeheartedly for the role as well. You don’t need to plead or beg, simply show your enthusiasm, energy, and interest with all your heart and you would be able to score high on the sheet of recruiters.

9. Know the purpose of the recruiters and fulfill it

Recruiters are not wasting time to invest so much time and effort to call you and spend 15-30 minutes of their busy schedule to talk to you. Ask yourself – Why the recruiters do that? Answer the question by yourself.

Because recruiters want to see whether the candidate is interested in the job role? Does the candidate speak similar with whatever is written on his/her resume? Does the candidate communicate fluently? Does s/he have any weaknesses which may harm the company in near future? Though it’s very difficult to judge the candidate simply by interacting with him,/her over the phone, while talking a few things come to the surface which the candidates may hide via email communication.

So, pay heed to these things and try to prepare yourself for answering in such a way that the purpose of the recruiters may get fulfilled. If you can fulfill the purpose of the recruiters, you don’t need to worry about selection. You would definitely get selected for the face-to-face interaction.

Let’s move to the next telephone interview tips.

10. Conclude the conversation with a proper note

Remember beginning and ending are as important as the essence of the whole interaction. As you need to begin the conversation with politeness and thankfulness, you need to end it in the similar fashion.

Even if you didn’t like the tone, words, and voice of the recruiter, you shouldn’t sound harsh or impolite. Recruiters use many tricks to judge a candidate. You don’t know what trick they’d be using next.

So, be polite. While ending the conversation ask the recruiter if they’ve anything to ask you; if they’ve you would be delighted to answer. And at the end ask any question (if you have) to the recruiter to gain clarity about the job role, position, salary structure or future prospects of the company.

Once you gain the clarity, thank the recruiter profusely and confirm your interest again. But be careful. You don’t want to sound like being pushy or like begging. Be confident in your abilities. You would surely succeed.

The above tips are the top 10 telephone interview tips and tools to perform at your best in telephone interviews. But your preparation may not end here. You can learn more and improve yourself. We wish you all the best and good luck for the telephone interviews.

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