Admission News

How to Deal with Phone Interviews

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Written by CB Experts

More and more often you may be asked to do a phone interview. It may be after you graduate from college and are applying for your first job. Employers are using the phone to narrow down their candidate list to save time and money for the next step, the face-to-face interview. You may also have to do a phone interview for a college application, especially if you are applying to a college that requires an interview and you live far away from the campus.

There are both plusses and minuses with a phone interview. For nervous people, often the phone covers that nervousness. Some are also better-spoken on the phone than in person. The major minus of a phone interview is not being able to read the face of the person doing the interview or being able to establish a personal contact.

Either way, if you are asked to do a phone interview, you have to do your best.

Here are some tips for completing a successful interview by phone:

  • Use an enthusiastic tone; do not allow yourself to sound monotone.
  • Act as though you are at a real interview. Pay attention to using good posture and positive facial expression; it comes across in your tone.
  • Pay attention to the setting. If it is noisy or there are distractions, put yourself in a different place or ask to call back after you have quieted your environment down.
  • Stay away from using negative words like can’t or haven’t.
  • Have a copy of your resume handy so you can sell your experiences and skills.
  • Make sure to have some questions of the interviewer; it shows interest and knowledge.
  • End the phone call pleasantly and ask what the next steps are.

No interview, even a phone interview, is complete without a follow-up thank you note or email.

Good luck!

About the author

CB Experts

Content created by retired College Admissions consultants.