Top tips on a Telephone Interviews

Used to kick start the interview process, Employers use telephone interviews as a way of screening and narrowing down a pool of candidates to be invited back for the next stage. It’s a quick, convenient and more cost effective way both you and the company to gauge your interest in the role and see If you will be a good fit for the business.

Most telephone interviews will be arranged in advance. However due to their convenience, they can occur at a moment’s notice, especially if a CV is submitted by an agency a little later in the process, or the employer is looking to fill the position quickly. If applying for a remote position, you may find that a telephone interview is the only one that you will have, so it vital to treat these types of interviews in the same way was you would a face-to-face meeting.

How to master telephone interviews:

Do your research: The same as you would for a face-to –face interviews, find out as much as you can about the company, their products and services, and the industry in which they work in.

Write down any questions: Interviews works both ways so this is a great opportunity for you to find out more about the role and the culture of the company. Writing down your questions will allow you not to forget to ask them when you’re on the call and you can also then jot down the answers for you to reflect on after the call.

Find a quiet place; if you treat this like an face-to-face interview, you would be in a room with no distractions so it’s best practice to set this up as well. You need to be able to focus and give your full attention so clear the room of pets, children and partners, turn off the TV or the stereo and close the door to give you the best chance of not becoming distracted.

Be professional: Answer the phone professionally, if sitting down, sit up straight, speak slowly and clearly and smile. This will help you to sound upbeat. It’s also handy to have a glass of water to hand to help in case you get a dry mouth.

Don’t eat on your call: A mumbled answer because you are chewing will get you remembered for all the wrong reasons. Chewing gum will have the same effect as you might think that you are being subtle, but the chances are you’re not and this will not go unnoticed.

Try not to interrupt: This can be difficult to gauge as you’re not in front of the person to be able to anticipate when they are going to speak. Allowing a gap will stop you from interrupting accidentally and will also give you a bit of time to think of an answer. Just make sure that you don’t pause for too long otherwise it may move from a pause to an awkward silence.

Follow up after the interview: it’s common curtesy to thank the interviewer for their time and to follow up with an email afterwards, reiterating your interest in the job. This is also a good way to provide more information that you feel maybe important that you forgot to mention whilst you were on the phone.

And above all, Listen: Take on board everything that is said to you and if you feel the need, make notes. Answer the questions to the best of your ability.

About Zenopa

Zenopa is a service organisation that offers flexible, rapid and effective recruitment solutions within the healthcare industry. The vacancies we specialise in include sales, technical support, applications specialist, service engineers, marketing, management & directors in the Scientific, Medical, Pharmaceutical, Consumer Healthcare, Dental and Healthcare Communications markets. With over 25 years’ experience in the industry, we have built strong relationships with SMEs and multi-national healthcare & scientific companies within the UK as well as Europe, and are able to match your specific needs and requirements for both permanent and contractual roles.

Our team of recruiters are experts within their field and are on hand to provide support, advice and guidance to those seeking a new challenge just starting out in their career or those seeking to progress their career further move up to the next level.

If you would like to find out how our recruitment solutions can add huge value to your business, please register your details, send us a message, or call the team on +44 (0)1494 818 000.