Sometimes a Telephone Interview can be simply a screening interview and sometimes it is a real full-blown interview as important as a face-to-face interview.

Screening Interview

If it is a screening interview, is will probably be short – 10 – 15 minutes -and will be conducted by someone in Human Resources or someone on the administrative staff of the hiring department. The purpose of this interview is threefold.

First, it is designed to fill in any gaps between the job requirements and your resume. If you look like a pretty good candidate but your resume doesn’t reflect a skill that they would like to have, the screening interview is to check whether you do in fact have that skill and it just didn’t get on your resume.

Second, is to make sure that you can communicate in a professional manner. Your telephone presence will tell them if you pass the first hurdle of professional presence.

Third, is to schedule the first real interview, either in person or on the phone.

Full blown Interview

In an increasingly virtual business world, the first “real” interview is frequently by telephone. This means less time commitment on everyone’s part and has the added benefit of determining how you will handle things like virtual staff meetings and plugging into remote work teams.

Give this interview as much care and as much importance as you would a face-to-face interview. The interviewer certainly will. It will usually be at a pre-scheduled time and last 20 – 45 minutes.

Be sure to have all your research available to you. Notes about points you want to make could be in front of you or pinned to the wall. Monitor your voice – we all tend to talk at a higher pitch or faster speed when under pressure. A deep breath can bring your voice back to a more pleasant pitch.

A small mirror next to the phone can give you a way of checking to make sure you are smiling. You definitely come across as more pleasant at the other end of the line if there is a smile on your face. You will also sound more alert and professional if you are sitting erect. Or, borrow a tip from many radio personalities, they do their shows on their feet. It gives their diaphragm more resonance and their lungs more space to expand.

A couple of technical tips

If you don’t have caller i.d., get it. Don’t allow yourself to be surprised into an impromptu interview that you are not prepared for. You can always call them back within the hour and set up another time to talk.

Your voice mail message needs to be brief and business-like and in your voice. And if you have children who might answer the home phone, use a second home line or your cell phone as the primary contact in your career search.

A final addition is a good headset – it will save you a crook in your neck, keep your hands free to look for information or make notes, and allow you to move with ease around the room. By the way, the door to the room is closed, isn’t it? Barking dogs or screaming kids in the background don’t exactly lead to a professional atmosphere.

With your permission, I’d like to offer you a free report: Job Interview Questions and Answers. You can download it by going to http://www.resumesthatrock.com/interview_QA.html

If you would like to hear more about job interviews and the other tools you need to conduct a successful job search visit http://www.success-catalyst.com/Career_Home_Page.html

From Jane Trevaskis and Success-Catalyst.com