Telephone Interview Advice

Dear Candidate,

Thank you for agreeing to schedule time for a telephone interview with our Client. We trust you will understand that due to constraints of distance and time, at this stage it is not possible to meet with you, however this preliminary interview is as important as a ‘ face to face interview ‘ and is an formal interview process NOT a casual chat on the phone.

Request you to follow the guidelines below :

1. Location: please keep yourself free at the scheduled time at a location free from noise or disturbance , interruption from other etc.
2. Time : please ensure you answer the phone call on the time specified . Since you have already agreed to the time, please set aside a minimum of 30 MINUTES FOR this interview.
3. Your phone: kindly ensure that your phone is kept free during the schedule time to ‘ receive phone calls ‘.
4. Preparation for the telephone interview : request you to please study the following in advance :
   1. Web site of the company – the products and services
   2. The job description
5. Standard questions that will be asked :
   1. Brief introduction about yourself
   2. Your current , role and job description , your organization structure , achievements etc.
   3. Your past experiences – success stories ( please prepare a few).
   4. Reasons for wanting a change to the next job.
6. Listening: LISTEN CAREFULLY to the questions asked – and answer the question specifically and to the point. If you have not understood the question clearly please ask the client to ‘repeat the question’.
7. Salary: Please keep all relevant information like your current salary and Expected salary – ready with you. If case you are asked for expected salary please indicate this. Remember that the expectation must be reasonable.
8. Questions : You are welcome to ask the client any questions at the end of the interview. However please do not ask questions for which information has already been given to you ( eg location of the job , the job description – this may indicate you have not read or prepared for the interview )
9. Ending : thank the client for the time and opportunity.

And finally please note that the WORST things to do is say you are driving , or in a mall ( too much noise ) or in a meeting with your client etc. This will just be an indication of poor values and ethics in attending Phone / or Skype interviews. The Client will be setting aside this for the meeting and will expect you also to do the same ( assuming of course that you have agreed to this).

We wish you good luck and all the best.