How Not to Do a Phone Interview

The telephone interview is a necessary and frustrating process of the interview and hiring process, and with a lot of people hunting for jobs in the economy, it's something where you'll be competing with a lot of other potential job hunters on.That being said, there are a lot of people who don't take a telephone interview as seriously as they do a face-to-face one - you're not bearding the employer in their conference room, in your finest clothes. You're doing it over the telephone, at home, possibly in your pajamas.

So, let's cover six ways people screw up phone interviews

1. Eating on the phone

Or burping on the phone, or anything else you wouldn't do sitting in front of an employer. It's amazing how many people think that the sound of chewing something or crunching crackers, or worse yet, talking with their mouth open, makes them sound hireable, let alone professional.

2. Not having a copy of their resume in front of them

This is your biggest advantage in a phone interview; you're not really allowed to look at your own resume when talking to someone face to face, but in a phone interview, you can have a crib sheet tailored for each employer right at hand.

3. Not preparing for the interview

In a face-to-face interview, you can signal by way of body language, you can signal by way of facial expression, there's a lot of signaling you can do. In a telephone interview, it's all voice inflection. People talking on the phone tend to talk too loud and too fast, because they can't actually read the comprehension cues of the person they're talking to. Unless you've had direct experience in radio announcing or telephone customer service training, it's ALWAYS a good idea to have a friend help you rehearse for the interview.

4. Background noise

This is a job interview. Make sure the TV is off. Turn off any instant messenger programs. Turn off the radio. Do NOT type an email or an IM message or text to someone while in the interview - the interviewers will hear it when you type. None of these give a good impression - after all, if you're hunting for a job, doing so should be important to you, right?

5. Time commitments

Yes, we all know that the phone call you want to take always obeys the law of sitcom dramatic necessity. If the call comes in at a bad time, tell the interviewer this and suggest a better time to reschedule. No company worth working for won't take that into account, they want to see you when you're at your best. Clear out distractions, background noises, and anything else. Take a moment to prep for it like you'd prep for any other presentation, and run with it when they call back.

6. Hesitancy

While nowhere near as deadly to your prospects as, say, talking with your mouth full on a phone interview, a lot of people (women especially), have a tendency to sound hesitant when doing phone interviews. It's that side effect of not being able to read body language. Dial your assertiveness up a notch or two beyond what you'd do in a face-to-face interview. For some people, hesitancy goes away if they dress the part; one client we had rescheduled an interview for an hour later - what did he do in that hour? He went and got a manicure, put on his absolute best suit, cleared off his kitchen table and put the phone in the middle of it, with a copy of his resume and talking points. He did everything he could to make the environment he was in on his end of the line feel like a professional job interview. And he got the job.

How Not to Do a Phone Interview

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