Rule No. 1: Know who you are talking to.

It is a usual experience to have a first phone interview in this market. That interview is designed to screen you out, not in. That interview is often conducted by a lower level hr person who has a list of questions they need to get through. Remember, they want to screen you out and move on to the next unsuspecting candidate.

Handling that first interview is no different than any phone communication skill that we would train into a sales or customer service function for a client. Subsequent interviews might occur and your depth of information, your own questions and answers will need to vary depending on who you are talking to; hiring manager, business owner, department head.

Rule No. 2: Be ready to listen effectively

Listening is not about ‘hearing’ it is about understanding what is being said. It is an entirely different level that involves being in a position to listen, being prepared to listen and being able to listen. This takes skill and practice and deserves your time.

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Rule No. 3: Understand the value of a good question

One of the secrets of great communication is not listening. It is about being able to both ask and answer a question that will show confidence, interest and understanding. Answering questions without a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is an art. Being able to extend that answer so that it is succinct, complete and does answer the question and the underlying thought is not that easy.

At Telephone Effectiveness we put great stock in the value of questions and offer our clients a workshop around questioning skill. They form the basis of both creating the right impression when answering and giving the right impression when asking. Have you ever been on the receiving end of poor questions? They are boring, they are a waste of time and show no interest in you at all. Questions usually have a purpose and an expected outcome when in an interviewing situation. Rules 1 and 2 support this skill.

Rule No. 4: Get a commitment for a next action

If you don’t ask you won’t get! That is one of our practices in our training and coaching. You finish the interview the interviewer says: We’ll talk about your qualification sand experience and get back to you in a few days. Horror! What does THAT mean?

Too often I meet people who have had that situation and they anxiously sit and wait and wonder and don’t know what to do. Do I call? Do I send an e-mail? They said they would be in touch.

Make it easy on yourself. Ask them what their time commitment is to do that internal discussion and when you should expect to hear back. Then ask: If I don’t hear back from you by that date, is it okay that I follow up? If you are not available, should I talk with someone else? Or leave you a message?

This opens the door for you to make that follow up attempt and since you asked permission and they gave it you can! If you do not connect, in your voice message, remind them who you are, that you spoke with them on X date and that you will be available to talk with them today up until 6.00 this evening or tomorrow morning up until about 11.30. Repeat your name and phone number slowly. I would repeat it again in reverse order.

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