Many telephone interviews are conducted with the purpose of seeing whether you will fit into the organisation not just assess your skill set which can be done in greater detail when they meet you. Having just telephone interviewed someone myself as well as being an ex-recruitment consultant I thought I would share some of my top tips to help you ensure you get to the face to face stage and don’t blow it at the first hurdle.

Manage your environment

Hearing the kids screaming or the dog barking does not make the right impression, set the time for when you can focus 100%, you won’t be interrupted and there isn’t any danger of running someone over.

Influence the time you are called

If you perform better in the mornings then do your best to get a morning slot, similarly if like me you get that afternoon slump and are just waking up, have your slot then – work with when you are at your best and you can think on your feet.  There is nothing worse than someone sounding unprepared, half asleep or lost for words.

What are your 3 key messages?

You only have a short time to make an impression so beforehand write down 3 key achievements, or strengths that relate to the position that you can drop into the conversation when appropriate. Make it your objective to come across as the perfect candidate so that a face to face interview is just a formality.

Build rapport with the interviewer

Do some research on who they are and see what common ground you have to start building the relationship. At the very least use your voice to match the tone, speed, & energy of the interviewer so you make that unconscious  personal connection straight away.

Stand up

In telesales we always used to stand up if we had a difficult call to handle. You sound more confident and alert when standing, your diaphragm isn’t squashed into your rib cage the oxygen can flow freely. This is also helps with thinking on your feet!

Use a mirror

Practice saying your 3 key messages to a mirror, check your facial expressions. Do you look enthusiastic and engaged? Smile and the interviewer will hear that in your voice. Talk to the mirror like you would do the interviewer.

Research the company

You would do this for a face to face interview so why not on the telephone. You may only have 15 minutes to make an impression and dropping in a comment that is knowledgeable and relevant about the company shows your interest as well as your preparation skills. The response I heard today was ‘the agency didn’t tell me exactly what you do’, not good enough, get the web address and find out!

Save questions about package or working conditions to the face to face interview

This is not the time to focus on small details and the impact you make will not be inspiring to the interviewer. Actually I would always advise leaving those details to the agent – that is why they represent you.

Tell them something personal

A lot of interviewers start with the question of ‘tell me about yourself…. ‘, this is not an invitation to describe every job you have had and cover all aspects of your CV. The face to face interview is for that. Why not start with some personal details about where you live, or how many children and then briefly describe your last/current position using one key fact that relates to the position in question.

End on a positive

If they ask you if you have any questions, they are drawing to a close unless you have something critical to ask then take this opportunity to state your interest in the position, your enjoyment of speaking to the interviewer and how suitable you believe you are to the position based on your skills. End on a high!

If you want to find out about our personal 1:1 Telephone Interview training or Voice Coaching please contact Hannah at training@freelanceadvisor.co.uk.

To find more about how to sell YOU, come along to our next workshop Selling YOU workshop.

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