Nowadays’ recruiters are coming up with new strategies to hire the right candidates, and at the same time they make sure to keep the company expenses to minimum. This is the main reason why telephonic interview calls are becoming more and more common these days. This type of interview, gives an opportunity to the recruiter to quickly scrutinize the candidate and understand his caliber along with saving companies time and money. In case he feels that the candidate has the capability than he may schedule a face to face interview.
Telephonic round of interview can be of 2 types. One is automated where you are required to answer a series of predefined standard questions. The other is non-automated where you are needed to converse directly with the recruiter and random questions could be asked along with the standard ones.
The most important thing to know about telephonic interview is that you need to be prepared in advance. Mostly the recruiter will schedule the interview and give you a prior notice. But chances are that he might call up randomly and you have to be prepared for this off the cuff telephonic interview session. Here I have listed down couple of helpful phone interview tips that will come in handy when facing the call.

10 Most Common Telephonic Interview Tips:

1- Keep Your Resume Handy:

Prior to the interview, keep a copy of your resume in front of you. So that you can use it as a reference during the call. If you want you can tape the resume on a wall so that it is in clear view.

2- Keep Calm & Relaxed:

While the interview is going on make sure to talk directly into the mouth piece and keep your tone calm and relaxed. With relaxed mindset you will be able to answer the questions appropriately and without fumbling.

3- List of Achievements Ready:

Make a list of your achievements and accomplishments ready prior to attending the call. This document will come in handy to provide support to your answers. Plus at the peek time you will not have to struggle too much or stress to highlight your achievements.

4- No Distractions:

If you are planning to take the call from home than make sure to choose a room which is distraction free. Instruct you family members to not disturb you while the call is going on. In case you have pets, it is better to keep them out of the house for sometime. You obviously don’t want to excuse yourself, while the telephonic interview is going on to clear up the distractions.

5- Mock Interview:

Though it is a telephonic interview, your confidence can reflect in your voice. Ask your friend or family member to take your mock interview. You can hand out standard questions to him, and ask him to take the interview. Keep a note of all the points you have discussed while practicing, you never know which point can leave your recruiter impressed. Plus practicing will help you feel more confident while attending the real round.

6- Use a Good Quality landline Phone:

Avoid using cell phones for attending phone interview. You don’t want the call to be disconnected, because of network issues. In landline phone, network issues are comparatively less. Also, try to select a phone, which makes your voice sound clear and confident. Any kind of distractions or treble will make you sound week, so it becomes important to choose a nice high quality phone for attending the call.

7- Mind your Body language:

Wondering why body language is important for a phone interview, when the person cannot see you? Keep in mind that if you are lazy and leaning, while the call is going on it will show up in your tone. So sit upright and don’t hesitate to use hands to express. This will keep you attentive and alert and help improvise your overall voice effect.

8- Be Honest:

Whether it is a face to face interview or a telephonic interview, being honest is very important. Remember the person on the other side is an experienced professional and dishonesty will be caught in no time. Any dishonest move from your site, and that too caught by the recruiter will certainly mark a negative impression and you are sure to loose a great opportunity.

9- Do not Talk About Salary:

Telephonic round of interview is just the initial start to the overall candidate search process. This is not the time to talk about salary or negotiate about it. Experts suggest that money discussions should be kept for the last round of the interview process. It is quiet possible that some of the recruiter may ask you about your salary expectations. The best way to answer this question is that “I think it is too early to talk about salary, I still need to understand the whole compensation and job requirements clearly”.

10- Always be prepared:

As mentioned above, most of the time recruiters will schedule a telephonic interview with a prior notice. But incase the call comes in randomly and you are not in a position to talk, than it is better to say that you will call them later and excuse yourself. This would give you an opportunity to relax and prepare yourself. Instead of struggling to answer the questions with first thought.

Some very quick tips to remember while attending telephonic interview:

• Keep Smiling
• Never interrupt the interviewer in between
• Take your own time to answer the questions correctly
• Always be ready in advance with answers to standard job interview questions
• Never entertain unexpected or unplanned call
• Dress up for the phone interview as you would for a face to face job interview
• Never forget to send a Thank you mail, post interview

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