So you have scheduled an interview – congratulations!  Now what do you do?  Believe it or not, the interview is really not just about communicating to the hiring manager about your skills, education, and work history.  To get hired in today’s world, you’ll need to impress with these 3 factors:

1. Your knowledge of the company… did you do the necessary research first?

2. How you present yourself during the interview

3. Last and actually, mostly least:  Your skills and qualifications

Here are some important recruiting tips to follow during that coveted interview to ensure a more successful outcome.

Your Resume

Always have a copy of your resume in front of you.  Recruiting Tip:  If you are working with a high quality recruiter, they likely tailored your resume and cover letter for the position so please be sure you have that version printed out and in front of you.  Why this matters?  The Hiring Manager is going to ask you to walk through your work history.  As you go through your resume you want to be sure you are on the same page (literally) as the Hiring Manager, so always make sure the version of resume you have and the Hiring Manager has are the same.

Be in a Quiet Place

You should be in a quiet place where you will not be disturbed or distracted.  This is your time to shine so don’t put yourself in the position to have to keep the dogs quiet, worry about the baby waking up from her nap, or trying to figure out where to turn at the intersection.  Be fully dedicated and fully focused.

Be Formal

I would recommend you sit at a desk and if you don’t have a desk in your home sit at your dining table.  This is not a time to sit on your comfy couch and have a relaxed conversation.  You need to be 100% tuned in and you can’t do that if you are in a relaxed setting.  Recruiting Tip:  If you tend to get nervous for interviews, dress up in your professional attire; people always feel much more confident when they have their business suit and dress shoes on!

Your Phone

You should be on a LAND line and on a reliable handset.  Never use speaker phones.  Steer clear of mobile phones and bluetooth devices.  It would be silly to lose an employment opportunity because you lose connectivity while you are speaking to the Hiring Manager.

How…and What you Articulate

Speak concisely, slowly, sound confident and sound passionate about the company you are interviewing with.  Two things I would point out:

If you have an accent, be sure you concentrate on speaking slowly, as speaking quickly can lead to misunderstandings which will cost you the job.  Write out index cards with “SLOW DOWN” and post them everywhere you will be looking during the interview.  You will be amazed with the results.

Be able to articulate how working for this particular company in this particular position will enable you to work towards obtaining your career goals.  You have to show how the company’s mission aligns with your personal objectives.  If you haven’t reviewed the article titled “How to Prepare for an Effective Phone Interview“, I highly recommend taking some time to better ensure a successful outcome.

Be familiar with Behavioral Interview Methods

This interview style trips up many intelligent Job Seekers!  We will spend more time on this topic in a later part of the course, however to jump ahead check out our articles titled “Two Simple Rules of Behavioral Interviewing“ and “Preparing for a Behavioral Interview“.

Close the interview!

Believe me when I tell you that Hiring Managers want you to express your interest for the job.  You will find many articles that tell you to ask for feedback and while this is true in theory, you have to be careful about how you ask for that feedback.  Simply asking if they believe you will be a good fit for the team is a very dangerous approach as you are inviting both positive and negative feedback.  You should only ask for positive feedback!  Make sure you ask for the specific skills and qualities you possess which make you a perfect fit for the opportunity.  Trust me, this approach is highly effective!

I hope you have found these recruiting tips on how to conduct powerful phone interview very informative.  Stay tuned for additional juicy tidbits enabling you to represent yourself more effectively.

Investing in a Lifetime of Success,

Angela Roberts
www.craresources.com
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Related Articles:

• How to Write an Effective Resume
• How to Prepare for an Effective Phone Interview
• Two Simple Rules of Behavioral Interviewing
• Preparing for a Behavioral Interview

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