First phone interview eek

440Hz

Hey all,

Been reading the threads here about various types of interviews, but looking for some personal advice.

I have my first ever phone interview in the morning, (just found out) and I really anxious about it. Dont know what to expect at all, its a techie interview and is likely to be very detailed. I have the skills they are looking for but have never worked in this particular industry before and not sure how to approach that.

Anyone got any general advice on how to approach this? Been years and years since I had any kind of interview and this is really my first time getting a 'proper' job after nearly 9 years in college, so I feel really out of the loop here

justfortherecor

Hey,

I had my first phone interview as well just last week, and got called to attend the final round this week. However, my phone interview was more competency based. Even though the job is technical, there is a limit to the amount of technical questions they can ask over the phone I feel.

* Starting with the intervier's introduction he/she will probably say, "we find you profile very interesting...blah blah blah"

The questions are typically the follwing (based more on competency type)

* so tell me why you think Company A is your option?
* Why ABC division in particular?
* How would you differentiate yourself from other candidates?
* What is it that you can contribute to Company A?

Other questions could be upon:
* your experience in teamwork
* experience in leadership
* experience in international exposure

Always prepare to give examples and concrete follow up upon:
* Successful times
* Unsuccessful times
* Challenging but successful
* worked on projects with deadlines
* Projects that required analytical skills / creativity or Innitiative
* Feedbacks upon your acitivities

I'm not sure about your field so I cant be more specific about technical issues they may ask, but one of the advantages of a phone interview is to have some cue cards/ prompts laid out for the above question in case you get stuck.

Anyways, Best of Luck!

the_syco

Remember: any facial or hand movement that you used during a normal interview, is null and void in a phone interview.

By this I mean in the interview, you may nod if listening, but on the phone you'll need to say some sh|te like "uh-hu..... yes..... mmmm-hm.... yes..... of course.... yes"

Other than that, don't use any slang (unless its relevent to the job), as they won't be assessing how you dress, just how you sound.

Best of luck, and tell us how it went.

Civilian_Target

Just had a telephone interview, and got through to next round...

Questions I was asked include:
What do you know about Company C?
What do you know about the area of C to which you are applying?
A time when you exceeded expectations.
A time when you overestimated your abilities.
Examples of how you dealt with a difficult colleague?
Do you network? Why should you network?
Give an example of when you were under pressure to achieve a deadline, and how you dealt with it?
Give 3 examples of what have you learnt in the previous year?
What do you hope to learn in the next 12 months?
Where did you apply technical knowledge from one field in another?

Nuttzz

got asked a question on a phone interview, how would you explain dhcp to a non technical person, which i did, then got asked if you had a heated discussion with a coworker how would you explain dhcp, i laughed at him telling him i wouldnt have a heated discussion about the operation of dchp, i hate these phone interviews by techs who arent used to interviewing. no doubt that killed my chances mind you....

sinbadfury

Nuttzz wrote:

got asked a question on a phone interview, how would you explain dhcp to a non technical person, which i did, then got asked if you had a heated discussion with a coworker how would you explain dhcp, i laughed at him telling him i wouldnt have a heated discussion about the operation of dchp, i hate these phone interviews by techs who arent used to interviewing. no doubt that killed my chances mind you....

I think it is more important to be yourself on the phone than you might be in the flesh really. For phone interviews they really mostly are just screening you to get the basics over with, but obviously you still be professional, just don't act like someone that your not, as hey will spot the difference when you actually go in for the 'sit-down'. Having some humor is not a bad thing either, I would just wait and see, who is to know, he voice on the other end could have been more anxious than you were, they just had prepared questions??

Hal1

How did the phone interview go 440Hz? Want to fill us in :d, just that Im interested to know as I might be doing one myself. :