How to Make the Most of a Phone Interview
by Karen Alphonse, execSearches.com

A phone interview provides a wonderful opportunity to make a positive impression -- if you are prepared.  Because you do not have the benefit of reading body language and taking non-verbal cues, you need to think through your strategy and presentation well in advance of the phone meeting.  A phone interview provides the chance to pave the way for a successful personal meeting.  By approaching the phone interview thoughtfully, you can effectively communicate both your qualifications and your high level of interest in the opportunity. 

Time the Call Well

You may want to set things up to you give yourself every possible advantage. Choose a time for the interview when you can give it your undivided, focused attention.  If possible, select a time when you are not vulnerable to interruptions and when you will have complete privacy.  Also, use a land-line if possible.  This eliminates some of the signal and reception issues that arise when using cell phones.  You also want to avoid times when your interviewers are likely distracted.  Monday mornings and Friday afternoons are notorious for interruptions and unexpected events.  Also, be wary of times just before or just after lunch.  Ideally, schedule your discussion for a time when your interviewer has few other concerns and distractions. If possible, find out the expected duration of the meeting and whom is participating on the interviewing end.

Clarify Phone Protocol Ahead of Time

Are you to place the call?  Will they call you?  Are you using a conference service? If so, how and when will you get the code?  Knowing these details helps avoid fumbling or uncertainty around the call.  Also, a day or so before the call is scheduled, you may want to send your interviewer a confirmation email detailing the procedures and expressing your appreciation for the time.  This serves two purposes.  First, it signals your interest and preparation.  It also gives the interviewing organization an opportunity to reschedule or make alternate arrangements if something arose in the interim.  Either way, you earn appreciation and demonstrate your continued interest.

Prepare for the Phone Meeting

Because you will operate without the benefit of aforementioned cues, preparation is key. For many people, it is a good idea to rehearse answers to key questions ahead of time. Rehearsal increases your fluency and gives you the confidence to conduct the phone meeting in a calm, orderly way.

Get to Know As Much As You Can About Your Interviewer(s)

Before the interview, know your interviewers. Obtain their bios and histories with their present firm or company and how long they have been in their current role(s). Have a sense of where they stand in the firm or company hierarchy. This information provides you a useful context to help you frame your comments and ask insightful questions. Assume the opinion of everyone with whom you speak weighs heavily in the decision to hire you.

Research the Firm or Company

Know the organization's mission and review its annual report, 990, recent news releases and any other documentation likely to give you a sense of where the organization is going and the role you might play in helping to reach their goals. The more detailed your research, the more likely you will uncover details where you can create links between your experience and the company's goals. You may discover, for example, the firm or company seeks to build relationships with a couple of national foundations. If you previously worked closely with those foundations, it makes sense to reference those relationships in your comments. Or, you may notice a key board member of the interviewing organization has worked closely with your previous boss. Mentioning this positive connection can help your cause.

Be Able to Describe Your Own Firm or Company

Be able to articulate the operating priorities and strengths of your own firm or company. Cite accurate facts and statistics to make your points. If your organization has been in the news recently, published a signature report or hosted a major event, you should be able to these issues comfortably.
In addition, be able to describe your current role in some detail including an overview of your operating strategy and goals. Present your current position in the most positive light possible and describe yourself as forward moving on a carefully planned career path. If you have been disappointed in your current role, concisely communicate lessons you learned as well as positive aspects of the experience.

Plan Your Opening Statement

You may want to practice a brief (4 sentences) opening statement linking your background to the position you are seeking. The statement should be factually correct, upbeat and geared toward the firm's mission and goals. This statement should be fluid and delivered confidently without hesitation.

Listen Closely to Your Interviewer(s)

One of the skills a phone interview tests is your ability to listen closely. Even more than an in-person meeting, a phone meeting commands your listening skills. It is critical to hear important cues from your interviewer(s) tone and inflection including enthusiasm and/or hesitation. Once you establish a rapport with your interviewer(s), which usually happens at the beginning of the call, it is easier to listen for changes in tone, inflection and pacing that indicate the speaker's moods and level of interest. If you get a sense of how the person expresses him or herself initially, it puts you in a better position to gauge how the conversation is progressing. Also, if you listen respectfully, this usually sets others at ease and makes them more ready to share and engage in the conversation.

Make Notes about Important Information

When someone mentions something important to the firm or company, make a note of it. After the interview, you will have a road map of the discussion and a list of the high-points. Your notes will help you analyze the information and they will prompt ideas for follow up discussions.

Have Questions You Want to Ask

Your research should give you many questions to ask your interviewer(s). Practice posing your questions in a positive light. If you notice the firm has been losing money recently, for example, you want to phrase your question carefully choosing to ask about plans to "increase earnings" rather than asking about the losses directly. If there has been attrition or downsizing, find ways to identify growth plans or "future growth" rather than referring to the negative trends. You need to demonstrate your knowledge of what is going on, and the more comfortable you make your interviewer, the more likely you are to be asked back. Tact provides a useful bridge for you. Also, it is often a good idea to practice asking difficult questions with a friend or colleague who understands the subtleties of the workplace and who can coach you on ways to broach sensitive topics in professional ways.

Be Very Prepared to Answer Obvious Questions

You should be absolutely comfortable answering questions about why you are looking to leave your current role, the reasons why you left your prior role, what you enjoy most about your job, what your strengths and weaknesses are, etc. There is no excuse for not having thoughtful answers to all of these stock questions. Again, you may want to rehearse your responses to questions you find difficult or troubling. The more you can project a sense of calm mastery, the more likely your interviewer will accept a well-reasoned answer and move onto the next question.

Have a Strategy for Answering Unexpected Difficult Questions

If you need time to answer, say so, rather than falling silent. You may couch this in a statement such as, "That is a very good question. I need a few moments to respond." You should have a file or folder with research you have done for the call and your notes. If all else fails, ask to respond to the question later in the call, and sift through your notes quietly as you frame a positive response.

Have an Outline of Your Closing Statement

Prepare a closing statement that anticipates key themes you expect to discuss during the phone meeting. Like the opening statement, this should be a fluent, pointed statement covering key aspects of your discussion. The idea is to leave the interviewer with the sense that you listened closely to the dialogue and that you remain interested in pursuing the opportunity.

Show Appreciation after the Call

You may want to send your interviewer(s) thank-you emails right after the call followed by hand written notes sent by mail. During the call, feel free to find out when and how you should follow up and when you should expect to hear next steps. The more specific you are about defining expectations during the call, the easier it will be for you to follow up appropriately. If, for example, you are told invitations will be extended to candidates within the next three weeks, there is no need for you to contact them before the three-week deadline. If, however, they mention a "few days," then you are perfectly within your rights to contact them three days later. This all depends on how clearly you get a timeline and sense of their next steps during the interview.

by Karen Alphonse, execSearches.com