Be prepared for your phone interview and get invited to the face-to-face!
Here are phone interview questions you’ll likely be asked, along with the best phone interview answers:
- Tell me about yourself. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s a social question to break the ice. It isn’t. All your answers should relate to the job.
- Walk me through your resume. Hit the highlights…education, jobs that contributed to your fit for this one that you’re interviewing for.
- Why are you interested in this job? Relate it to your skills and what you can do for them: “It’s a perfect fit because of X, Y, and Z.”
- Why are you leaving your current job? Don’t say anything negative about your old job, or hint that there was any kind of a problem. Focus on what a great opportunity this is and why you can’t pass it up.
- Are you in the right location? Is relocation going to be an issue for you? Are you willing to move? It could be a factor when deciding between candidates.
- What do you know about this company? You must do your research. No interviewer wants to keep talking with someone who couldn’t even be bothered to find out a little about them.
- Are you willing to travel? Be careful about answering this at all until you ask more questions to determine exactly how much travel they’re talking about–1 night a week? 4 nights a week?
- What is your current salary? They want to find out if they can afford you before they invest any time in you. You can answer this if you want to, but you’re better off avoiding it by saying something like, “What is the range you have budgeted for this job?” and assure them that you’re comfortable with that, once they tell you. What you make now is not relevant for how much this job pays because the companies and responsibilities are different.
- What is important to you in your next job? They want to know if this can be a good fit, if it matches up with what you want. Your answer should focus on why this job appeals to you.
- Who would serve as your references? If they ask this, they’ll probably check them before they call you in. Choose great references like past managers or other high-level execs who can speak to your work skills, and prep them before they’re called.
If they call you, they are interested, but they need to screen, or narrow down the list of who deserves the time and expense of a face-to-face interview. This means that phone interviews are where they look for a reason to cross you off the list. Don’t let them screen you out.
Do as much research as you can on the job and the company and practice your answers to these typical phone interview questions so you can deliver them smoothly and confidently and get invited to the face-to-face.
Best of luck!