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Problem 3: Noise. When it comes to the process of
communicating, “noise” means any sort of distrac-
tion—like trying to talk while multitasking at your
computer as well as having to put up with the
sounds of a nearby television. Phone conversations
are especially subject to all sorts of noise, including a
poor connection or the sudden demise of a cell
phone battery as well as plain environmental noise.
Solution: Shut the door and try to make as little
unnecessary noise of your own as possible. If you
have a poor connection, ask the interviewer to
speak up. If your cell phone battery isn’t charged,
you aren’t prepared for any kind of phone commu-
nication, much less an interview for the job you
want or need. (In other words, keep your phone
charged.) Focus on the activity at hand and pay
attention to the conversation.
Problem 4: Lack of context cues. For good or ill, an
in-person conversation is affected by all sorts of
nonverbal “context cues”—gesture, body language,
facial expression, dress, and so forth. In fact, only
a small portion of conversational meaning is deter-
mined solely by words. A phone interview, on the
other hand, allows for just one nonverbal element—
tone of voice.
Solution: Even though the interviewer can’t see you,
smile: The information that you’re conveying will
come across as personal and intended for the person
on the other end of the line. Many experts also recom-
mend that you feel free to use gestures, expressions,
and body language, just as if you were in a face-to-face
interview. Take a tip from phone-sales professionals,
who often stand or walk around the room in order to
sound more comfortable and more energetic.
Now that you’re properly equipped to solve the
most common problems that come up in phone inter-
views, let’s run over a few do’s and don’ts. First, some
tips on what you should do from Job Application and
Interview Advice, a website written by management
and HR professionals:
• Be positive. Talk about the positive aspects of your
present job and what you’re looking forward to in a
new one.
•
Know what you’
re talking about and be specific. In
other words, hold the interviewer’s interest by taking
charge of context cues. “Because [interviewers]
don’t have an image of your face to set you apart
from others,” says one job counselor, “you need to
draw pictures with your words.” Back up general
statements with good examples; people prefer
good (economical) stories to dissertations, and
they get a better impression of what you’ve done
in your work life.
• Refer to your notes. Don’t be embarrassed about
asking to look at your notes. It shows confidence
and preparation to ask to refer to notes.
• Take the initiative. If there’s something that you feel
it’s important to talk about but that doesn’t come
up, bring it up. Don’t waste any opportunity to sell
yourself.
• Know when a topic’s been covered (and when the
conversation’
s over). Don’t be tempted to fill in
silences by simply continuing to talk.
Finally, let’s review a few things to avoid. Matt
Aberham, who interviews would-be program managers
and engineers for Microsoft’s Online Services Business,
offers the following list of five good ways to avoid fail-
ing a telephone interview (at least one that he’s in
charge of):
• Keep track of the time. Because most interviews are
slated for 30–45 minutes, there’s time to cover several
topics thoroughly and a couple in fairly deep detail.
But no matter what you’re talking about, be con-
scious of how long you’ve been talking about it. Err
on the side of conciseness—if the interviewer wants
to know more, he or she will be sure to let you know.
• Answer the question instead of trying to sell yourself.
Don’t be afraid to discuss areas where you need (and
want) further development. “I’m not looking to be
sold,” says Aberham. “[I want] to get an accurate
view of your experience.”
• Talk about “me,” not “we.” Don’t get into the habit
of saying “we” instead of “I” throughout the inter-
view unless you’re trying to show how you led a
group in accomplishing its goals. Take “ownership”
of what you did. “Showing ownership,” explains
Aberham, “helps me figure out if … your contribu-
tions are appropriate for the work we’re thinking of
having you do.”
• Be concrete instead of abstract. Don’t give a hypo-
thetical answer to a specific question. “The quickest
way to fail a ‘Tell-me-about-a-time-when …’ ques-
tion,” advises Aberham, “is to give me a ‘Here’s-
what-I-would-do-in-that-situation …’ answer … . If
[I ask you] to describe a situation you’ve never han-
dled, let me know and I’ll pick a different question.”
• Don’t ask, “How’d I do?” Interviewers usually don’t
mind giving you some feedback about the match
between your skills and experiences and the
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