Back in May, a fellow poster on a message board I frequent was looking for some advice to give his wife on her first phone interview. That was not a big deal, but some of the responses from people just blew my mind.

This post is adapted from the advice I gave there (click here to read the whole thread), and is the second in my series about applying for (and getting) a job. You can read the first entry  here.

 

A Phone Interview? Let’s start with what a phone interview is and is not. It is an interview. It takes place over the phone. It is NOT a video conference. For some reason, people seem to think that your phone interviewers will ask you to Skype either during or right after the phone interview. They will NOT. If they wanted to do an interview by Skype or other video chat method, that is what they would have arranged with you. They didn’t. They asked for a phone interview. That means your interview will take place by phone and phone only. So relax, no one is going to suddenly ask to put you on video to find out that you stayed home from work for this and are still in your PJs.

 

What You Need To Know Now that we’ve gotten the confusion about what a phone interview is cleared up, here’s what you need to know when you are being asked to schedule the phone interview. Is this an HR screening or an actual interview with the hiring manger/team? If it is with multiple people, who are they? What are their titles?

Feel free to ask this if it isn’t volunteered. Or, if you forget to ask and the person who scheduled the interview doesn’t automatically send you that information (I do), send an email or call back and find out. It shows initiative on your part.

And just so you know, it is not rude or unprofessional or even uncommon to have a phone interview with multiple people. For our hiring process for the director level position, there were three or four of us on phone call, depending on schedules.

Also, make sure you have a contact number in case something comes up at the last minute or you do not get the call.

 

Be Prepared

Go to the restroom 15 minutes before the interview is supposed to start.

Let your friends and family know not to call you around that time, or if that’s not possible find out what number (or at least what area code) the call will be coming from, so that if another call does come in around the time the interview is scheduled, you can know not to answer it.
If you are calling into a conference call, make sure to call in a couple minutes early, just like you would show up at a location a couple minutes before the interview was scheduled to start.
In either case, if the call hasn’t come, or other people haven’t joined the conference call within 10 minutes after the scheduled start time, reach out to your initial contact. You can do it through email, or by calling the contact number you made sure to get when the interview was scheduled. (If you won’t be near a computer, you should have this number written down and with you.)
We actually decided to stop moving forward with a candidate after confusion about whether it was a conference call or us calling her, even though we thought the message had been clear. We made this decision not because we could not get ahold of her during the scheduled interview time, but because she never attempted to contact us- not until we sent her a note saying we would not be moving forward. Her response was “but you never called”- well, neither did she, nor did she email.

On the Phone If there are multiple people on the phone and they have done phone interviews before, they should be good about identifying themselves each time they speak. They know very well that you can’t see them and do not expect you to learn everyone’s voices.
If they don’t mention, you might want to ask if they are all in the same room, or calling from different locations. It’s important to know if they can see each other or not, because it does change the dynamic and the timing.

But the number one thing on a phone interview is do NOT be afraid of silence. The one thing I’ve really found is that people tend to talk more on phone interviews than they otherwise would. You have to remember that the person/people on the other side of the line don’t have any more visual cues than you do, so they need your silence in order to know you’re done answering the question and that it is safe for them to talk. And if they are all in different rooms, people may take a moment before they say anything to see if any of their colleagues have something to say.
However, it’s pretty much guaranteed that at least once during the conversation, you and one of the interviewers will start to talk at the same time. When that happens, you should stop talking and wait for the interviewer to ask you to continue with what you were saying, but make sure to keep that point short and sweet.

Even if there is only one person on the phone with you, remember that person has to be taking notes, so again, be comfortable with silence.

You Survived When the interview is over- thank everyone, just like you would at an in-person interview. Ask what the next steps are, if that information isn’t volunteered, again, just like you would if you had met face to face.

 

Phone interviews are getting more and more common, and if you ever want to move and have a job lined up in advance, you’re going to have at least one. The important thing is to remember the advice that Douglas Adams gave the world- Do Not Panic. Prepare just as you would for any other interview, and remember, silence is nothing to be afraid of.