You would be surprised! These days, a growing number of job interviews are taking place via a simple phone call. Whether this is due to an urgency in filling open vacancies, convenience on the path of HR recruiters or fall outs from the world becoming a global village remains open for debate but the fact remains that the phone interview trend has shown no signs of slowing down.
If you ask me, the phone interview trend is a welcome development. You don’t have worries about what to wear, you don’t have to deal with the prejudice gotten from your unkempt hair, poker face or your ill advised conspicuous tattoo. Besides talking on the phone is something you do all day by the way, so getting through a phone interview should be a breeze, shouldn’t it?
Before you jump into that phone interview, here are a few thing you might want to get in order!
Choose a Quiet environment: Try to pick out a quiet environment devoid of interruptions and interferences! The more you are able to concentrate on the interviewer and the questions being asked the more you would be able to ace your way through it. If the call comes in and you are in a noisy environment, it is alright to ask the interviewer to kindly give you a call back while you find a suitable environment and probably get your thoughts in order.
Be Time Concious: Although the interviewer will always give an impression that he/she has all the time in the world, be careful not to blab on and on. The golden rule is that you should not speak continuously for over a minute. If you are going to do so, take time out to ask the interviewer if he/she understands, is following or needs more light to be shed on an issue.
Listen closely: In an actual interview it is always advisable to keep your eyes open so that you can read the gestures, expressions and body language of the interview. In a phone interview you do not have that luxury. Your aid here would be listening carefully to what the interview says and his tone. Try to understand the question entirely so you do not speak out of context.
Stand up and smile: As trivial as this might sound, it is one of the most important. Stand up adds an enthusiasm and energy in your voice which would be lost if you sat down and smiling adds a friendly tone to your voice. Nine times out of ten the interviewer will be sure to pick the more energetic and friendly voice over the laid back and hostile one.
Get a Phone with H+ Technology: A dropped call can be the difference between you and somebody else getting the job. If you think about it you will realize that you tend to have a high number of dropped calls in relation to total calls received and made. With the emergence of H+ technology, not again! H+ provides you with high quality and stable calls! It has a strong signal receiving capability for great reception even in weak environments. The Huawei Honor 3C Lite and Wiko Getaway are perfect examples of a phone that comes with this technology.
So take into consideration these five tips and you will be confident to jump into that next phone interview.
This article was written by Yemi Kuti