2) Dress professionally as though you are having this interview in person
3) Look at a picture of your best friend and act as though you are talking to them. The ease and confidence will come through the phone.
5) Take notes. When you are on the phone, your mind is tempted to wonder directly to an answer, before you even heard the entire question. Quickly jot down a note if something is triggered while they are speaking. Then return to listening to them. You can return to that note afterwards.
6) Avoid the brain-dump. Because you can not see the interviewer, it’s tempting to catch diarrhea of the mouth.
It’s easy to assume that you understand the question and feel that you have to give a full biography of everything that you know about that subject. And as you are speaking, you think of more and more things to share. This comes off more as rambling than informative. Before you fly-off, pause and paraphrase what you think they are asking – to make sure you are answering the question (and in the level of detail) that they are interested. If the question is vague, ask for clarification in stead of rambling off in several directions.
Example: Interviewer: “How did you accomplish that?” – You could go into minute detail of how you coded something. But if you answer: “That project had many different levels. Would you like to know the high-level general process? the team, client and executive interactions? or more about the specific coding challenges?” This shows the interviewer that you are aware of the different levels involved – and want to answer the question that they are interested in.
When you are interviewing in person, you can read body language to see if you are interested in your answer. But when you are on the phone – you can’t tell if they are shifting in their seats, pacing or rolling their eyes. So keep your answers concise and brief. Pause and ask them if they need would like more detail. Pause and ask them if this is what they were interested in. Pause and ask them if you have fully answered their questions.
For a detail conversational-interview practice flowchart, please email me at LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info