Companies have varying stages to their recruitment process and telephone interviews are becoming more popular by hiring managers. It is the ideal first step after finding a successful CV’s to have a chat with the candidates that stood out and to get a feel for what they are like and their technical abilities. It is easier and quicker to remove unsuitable candidates from the process compared to face to face meetings. By having a phone interview the hirer can easily filter the top people to bring in for face-to-face interviews.

It is important to treat a telephone interview with as much importance as a face-to-face one and here are our 5 top tips on how to approach it…

1. Plan a location
This might not be something that you think about as you can take a call anywhere. But in order to get in the right mind set and to set a professional tone to the interview it is important to find a place that is quiet and has no distractions. Also, if you are at work when you take the call you obviously need to do it out of earshot of your current team.

2. Allow conversation to flow
Although you can’t see the hiring manager it is important to get the conversation to flow and form a connection with them, try and direct the interview to cover topics that you feel confident talking about so that you stand out. It is vital not too cut the hiring manager off and answer all the questions, but where possible develop on your responses and bring in some general conversation about yourself as well.

3. Prepare for the Call
Like a face-to-face interview it is important that you prepare in just the same way. On your telephone interview confirmation the person conducting it should be noted, this is a great opportunity to look at who they are by researching them on LinkedIn for example. If you are not sure who is interviewing you then you should ask what their job title is and where they fit into the organisation to make sure you start the interview off on the right note. Also, make sure you look into the background on the company, how have they grown, what do they do, who owns them? This way you can think about what you can bring to the role if you were hired and prepare some questions that you may want to ask.

4. Ask questions
As mentioned above it is a great idea to have some questions ready, a telephone interview is an initial conversation, but there may be some preliminary questions you have about the role and if these have not been covered in the conversation then there is no harm in asking. Not only will it make it clearer for you to see if the role is suitable, it will also show the hiring manager that you are interested and proactive. If you are successful and are asked for a face-to-face interview then more in-depth conversations and questions can be asked.

5. Positive mind set & overcome nerves
It is important to treat this like any other interview and don’t let nerves get the better of you. Even though it is over the phone you will get a feel for how it is going and this will hopefully put you at ease. If you remain positive, answer all the questions truthfully and to the best of your ability it is sure to be a success.

Feel prepared for your telephone interview? Great news! All goes well and you will be on the hiring manager’s call back list to progress you to the next step, most likely that all important face-to-face interview for your dream role.