Phone Interviews

[jrwilheim]

Okay...today I get an email from a company I barely remember applying to, saying they want to have a 30-minute phone interview with me at my convenience over the next week or so. Has anyone had one of these? What should I know?

[MrNCG23]

I've done lots of phone interviews. Try and recall which position it was for to start. Do some background research on the company. The job position is pretty important though - basically you want to show you are a good fit for the position and you are interested in working for this company because ____. It's basically a pre-screen, so be able to walk the interviewer through your resume and show how your experience/skills/background fits the position to a T.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, but w/o knowing the position/industry specifics, I can't give as much detailed help. If I recall, you're the guy from Columbia, right? If this is a Wall St. job I might be able to give you a few more pointers depending again on the job. In any case, good luck!

[yankeeyosh]

Virtually every job I've interviewed for involved a phone interview....I would venture to say I've had well over sixty or possibly seventy.

Treat it just like you would a regular interview. Get background info on the company, think of questions they might ask, conjure up questions on your own. Some people even go out of their way and put on a suit, even though no one will see them.

There are two types of PI's...one is a phone screen which you do with HR. Those are generally pretty basic...HR will ask you a bunch of general questions. Even here, you want to ask them some questions...maybe not anything technical, but general questions about the culture, strucutre, etc. The other PI is when you might actually speak to someone who you would be working for. These are generally more detailed...perhaps not as elaborate as a "formal interview", but more specific nonetheless. Here, you definitely want to be prepared, have questions ready, etc. Sometimes, you even get two PI's...HR will call you first, and then if they think you "might" be a good fit, someone from the department will call you. But you always have to deal with them face to face. No question about that.

[WorkInProgress]

There are two types of PI's...one is a phone screen which you do with HR. Those are generally pretty basic...HR will ask you a bunch of general questions. Even here, you want to ask them some questions...maybe not anything technical, but general questions about the culture, strucutre, etc. The other PI is when you might actually speak to someone who you would be working for. These are generally more detailed...perhaps not as elaborate as a "formal interview", but more specific nonetheless. Here, you definitely want to be prepared, have questions ready, etc. Sometimes, you even get two PI's...HR will call you first, and then if they think you "might" be a good fit, someone from the department will call you. But you always have to deal with them face to face. No question about that.

Along those lines...the one phone interview I had was more on the technical side, although it was a "screening out" mechanism to see if I either a)knew my shit, or b)could do enough research to sound like I did. Since I got a heads up on what (vaguely) the interviewer would want to talk about, I made an outline to follow, so I didn't leave anything out. I was very nervous, but it got easier the more I talked. After having done this, I think it's easier in some ways than a face to face interview.

Like the others said, do your research and have a plan for what you want/need to say.

[CTGirl]

We do phone interviews for just about all of the positions we recruit for before we do an in-person interview. A lot of what we do in the phone interview is tell the candidate about the position, and ask them some questions about their resume, and basics about the job (like would these hours and this commute work for them, etc). They're generally very low-key, "getting to know you" type of deals, nothing to stress too much about.

[wordsmith]

I'm excellent at phone interviews (probably because I conduct a lot of them for my job at the newspaper, so I know what it's like to be on the other side, too, and am well-practiced).

My very first post college job, I got as a result of a phone interview...some people will tell you to emulate how you would be in a regular interview, but in my experience, it's best to just be comfortable. The aforementioned interview, I did lying on my stomach on my bedroom floor in my pajamas, actually.

But definitely prepare, do your homework. Because long, "duuuuh" pauses are far more evident on the phone than they are in person.

One nice thing is that you can refer to a list, even have things you want to make sure you address written out, and it's not obvious like it is in person that you're reading from a script.

[psu1ski17]

What field is it in? I had a phone interview with IBM. Afterwards, my friends who were working nearby mentioned that it sounded like i was taking a test. They were drilling me. I think that was as far as I got with them. Although, even in a technical field like mine, I think this sort of phone interview is rare.

[Franti]

Phone interviews rock. Make sure to have a notepad in front of you and write down the names of all the people interviewing you. Write down to questions they ask you so you can remember to stay on task. DON"T RAMBLE (huge issue with many candidates). Wear your most comfortable clothes have a glass of water with you and rock it out! Also use a landline if possible.

[crystal_dance]

I had a phone interview today. It was for a research analyst position and the guy hammered me with questions on economic development, excel and the latest US senate policies on foreign exchange. it was a mess. :(

[jrwilheim]

Phone interviews rock. Make sure to have a notepad in front of you and write down the names of all the people interviewing you. Write down to questions they ask you so you can remember to stay on task. DON"T RAMBLE (huge issue with many candidates). Wear your most comfortable clothes have a glass of water with you and rock it out! Also use a landline if possible.

Yeah...they specifically requested a non-cell phone to call me on. I gave them my new VOIP number.

The company is called D.E. Shaw Group. I'll have to look them up before the interview because I have NO recollection of having applied for this job... :frustrate

[MrNCG23]

Hedge fund - I think I may have interviewed with them before. I have a couple quant questions/brainteasers that they may ask. PM/post your email and I'll send you the attached questionnaire.

[jrwilheim]

Hedge fund - I think I may have interviewed with them before. I have a couple quant questions/brainteasers that they may ask.

Cool. Send them my way.

I think this is their legal dept. looking for a production specialist. That's what I seem to have applied for. Now...how to convince them that I know anything about producing legal documents?

[MrNCG23]

I don't know anything related to law. I think I interviewed for a quant analyst position.

[wordsmith]

I have never worked in the sort of field that grills you in interviews. It's mostly been just determining personality/fit. My skills are in my writing profile, and come out in the act of interviewing by nature.

[g8ergal83]

i hate phone interviews. i've had 2, and i absolutely hate them. One was for a CNN internship that I didnt get and the other was for the job I'm still waiting on hearing back from. They're nerve wracking and you feel that if you dont say something right away to answer their question they're thinking that you're lying because they cant see your facial expressions. It makes me very anxious.

Just do a lot of research on the company, and research and practice questions and answers to A LOT of interview questions. My last one asked me questions I hadnt even prepared for. i prepared for OTHER questions instead.

be able to answer what your goals are, what your major experience was, how it helped yo uor affected you, along with all the normal "tell me about yourself" (i had prepared an AWESOME answer for the tell me about yourself question and she didnt even ask it - or anything similar to it where i could give me awesome answer!!!)

[sondra_finchley]

I second that about "practicing answers". Doing this has really made me feel more comfortable with phone interviews and be concise and accurate in my answers so I dont have many "ummm" moments.

What I did was type "most common interview questions" into google, and then worked through a list on some site I found, preparing my own answers. Most of the time at least two of these come up, or you get some derivative question that your preparation would allow you to answer easily.