Telephone interview tomorrow...

[Toaster Pilot]

Not done a interview for a good few years now, and I'm oddly nervous. It's for a graduate job with an employer I actually (really) want to work for, not just one I've chucked an application at for the sake of sending enough out to stand a chance of getting a job. Also the first interview I've got to so far (not heard anything at all from a lot of applications and I'm at the preliminary stages with some)

Tell me to pull myself together

[ali_kat]

Good luck - phone interviews are great - you can have your CV, with relevant bits highlighted and loads of notes & bits about the company open on your screen - just use the mouse rather than the clicky keyboard

[zaphod42]

Use a land line. Not a mobile. Much better voice quality. Ensure you are in a quiet space. Switch your own mobile to silent.

Write down 5 key points from your CV you want to get across and highlight where you get the opportunity.

If anything isn't clear from the question, don't be afraid to ask for them to clarify or rephrase.

Have some questions ready for them, e.g. "In your experience, what roles do graduates find themselves in after 2-3 years?" or "Clearly graduates are important to your business - what are the particular challenges for the next 6-12 months in the business, and how do you think graduates could contribute?"

Close with something like, "I hope all of the answers covered your points. Is there anything that you would like me to clarify further?"

[Toaster Pilot]

Didn't think about the landline thing, they only have my mobile number

Thanks for your advice though will definitely take it on board. I already know a fair bit about the company having interned for one of their subsidaries before they sold them off.

[CunningPlan]

Toaster Pilot said:

I already know a fair bit about the company having interned for one of their subsidaries before they sold them off.

This is a good point. Most interviewers for employees (I have only done interviews for contractor posts) seem to use knowledge of the company and their business as a litmus test. Is the interviewee just after "a job" or want to work for them in particular? Making sure you have done all your homework about the employer (or in your case already have the knowledge) and can integrate into your answers that you know what they do, why you want to do that and what applicable skills you have is key.

ETA: As you've worked for a subsidiary, is there anyone working there who knows you and would speak highly of you? If so, name drop them as the interviewer will almost certainly go and chat with them about you.

Edited by CunningPlan on Monday 14th November 01:03

[Toaster Pilot]

CunningPlan said:

ETA: As you've worked for a subsidiary, is there anyone working there who knows you and would speak highly of you? If so, name drop them as the interviewer will almost certainly go and chat with them about you.

Edited by CunningPlan on Monday 14th November 01:03

The subsidiary was sold in April so it's now a completely seperate business.

Anyway, it seemed to go well until I was completely floored by

"Describe a time when you worked with people from different cultural backgrounds"

[anonymous-user]

Toaster Pilot said:

The subsidiary was sold in April so it's now a completely seperate business.

Anyway, it seemed to go well until I was completely floored by

"Describe a time when you worked with people from different cultural backgrounds"

That's a nasty sounding question but with a relatively easy answer given a bit of time to think about it, hope it didn't throw you off kilter too much.

I did find telephone interviews hard though as silences seem longer on the phone and you don't have any point of reference as to what sort of person you are talking to. I had a telephone insterview with a lady who i'd pegged as in her 50s, and slightly grandmotherly...when I got called in for a face to face she was late 20s and bloody gorgeous!

[Toaster Pilot]

I'm also 99% sure I was speaking to an agency who the telephone interviews had been outsourced to, seems common with big companies.

[ninja-lewis]

Toaster Pilot said:

I'm also 99% sure I was speaking to an agency who the telephone interviews had been outsourced to, seems common with big companies.

Yep. Seems a lot of telephone interviews are simply information collecting to double check what you've put on your CV and in your application, and check you can carry out a conversation without sounding like an idiot. Most of the time the agencies appear to know very little about the company and can't really answer any questions about them.