The Phone Interview Goal
Have a Clear Vision of Where you Want to Go (flicrk: muha)
Before talking about the Goal of your phone interview, you must be clear that the interview is a conversation. It’s not a situation where one part is active and the other one (you) is reactive. You must also be active and create the interview that you want for you. You create the conversation as much as the interviewer.
It’s a special kind of conversation because it has goals. Most conversations between friends don’t have a specific goal but to express one’s emotions and express some opinions. But in a phone interview you’d better have a goal…
The interviewer’s goal is clear: screen you out as soon as he detects something that’s not what he’s looking for. It’s a rather negative goal. He does not want to waste your time or his time.
For you, the goal should be: get a face to face interview.
Not to impress the interviewer, or to sound professional or sound nice. That’s not the goal. That may be some means to your goal. The goal is to get an in person interview. I know it may sound obvious, but sometimes we forget and start the phone interview withouth this goal in mind. If you have this goal clear in your mind your unconscious will help you move forward the conversation in a way that’s benefical to your goal. I repeat: if you have this goal in your mind, you will tap into unknown resources of your mind that will help advance to the next phase of the job interview process.
How to Deliver Well All Your Answers
The What, the Why and the How of your Answer
In a phone interview all answers have the same 3 part structure:
1) The WHAT you say: that’s the content, the details, the easiest part. You should be concise and organized here.
2) The WHY you say: that’s the intention behind WHAT you say. That’s invisible. You are the only one that knows it. Choose 1 (not two) intentions when delivering it. I suggest you forgetting about any manipulative intention like impressing the other person, or get their approval. Try instead choosing intentions that empower you as a person: touch my inspiration, smell my power, be in contact with the source of my joy. Yes, you’ve read right: when you answer you can use that answer to tap into your potential. If that’s your intention you’ll come across better, in a friendliner way, trust me 
3) The HOW you sound, the way your words sound: they can be soft or harsh, confident or doubtful, brillant or apatic…The tone of your voice carries certain emotions through. My trick here is very simple and powerful: S-M-I-L-E while you answer.
Have a smile on your face before you utter your answer, during the delivery and after you’ve uttered the last word.
PS. More advanced and powerful phone interview techniques you’ll find on my Phone Interview Success System.
The 2 minute Answers Rule
Never rush your answer (flickr: laffy4k)
I am going to use my intuition here…
When you are asked an open question (one that does not expect a “yes” or “no” type as an answer), you need to develop enough time to it. It’s a good idea to begin answering the question with an opening sentence (introduction). Answer WHY this question is important. After this initial 30 seconds you should take a breath, make a 1 second pause and then develop the content by providing specific examples with as much concrete details as possible. Dedicate at least 1 minute to this part. Finnally, you should wrap up all and summarize your answer in 30 seconds or less. Total time: 2 minutes.
Why 2 minutes and not 30 seconds? Because as you answer, the interviewer needs some time to pay attention to YOU, not to your answer.
The first 30 seconds are normally spent by listening to WHAT you say (your “opening” makes an impression at an intelectual level). After that initial 30 seconds, the interviewer is able to enter in a different perspective where he or she gets in touch with HOW you answer, and WHO are you. That part makes an impression at a deeper level (emotional level). And finally, as you do your last 30 seconds wrap-up, the interviewer is going to validate the intelectual and emotional impact you’ve made. The interviewer is unconsciously checking wheter WHAT you said is aligned with WHO you are. It’s a subtle process. If the interviewer unconsciously sees congruence, you will have made an impact at the deepest level possible: the gut level.
You don’t want to answer all your questions in 2 minutes. You may answer a few questions in 1minute or less and few another in 2,5 minutes or 3 minutes maximum (because the interview is a conversation, a dialogue, not a monologue). But these are exceptions.
As a rule you’ll need to devote 2 minutes per answer as an average. Less than that would not be “enough” time for the interviewer to get to know you. There is a BIG exception to all that I have said: check for facial expressions in the interviewer’s face to see when it’s time to wrap up and move to the next question.
What sets apart winning job candidates?
A clown preparing to work (flickr: Dean Ayres)
In our recession economy there are more people competing for fewer job openings. It’s the toughest competition I’ve ever seen.
Most candidates focus on sending out resumes and trying to get an interview. That’s all what they do. They have limited chances of getting the job of their dreams because they forget one thing:
It’s not only about getting interviews. It’s about converting those interviews in successful impressions.
You want to ace the interview so that the interviewer thinks that you are a one of the top 3 candidates. Winning candidates are PREPARED for the interview. Most candidates are not prepared and don’t pass to the next phase of the interview process.
Can you imagine a clown not prepared for making people laugh? He would be not regarded as a clown but as a fool…
A Big Secret non-technique
Use your Common Sense (flickr: Denis Collette)
The Big Secret to your phone interview success has a name: ”common sense”.
But what is “common sense”? It’s not a technique or something you can “do”.
In my view, common sense is the intelligence at the service of the group, or the intelligence at the service of the common interest.
Is what the average “Joe” would think and do in any situation that involves relating to others or in a group. It’s what he instinctively knows will serve better the group purpose. Because “Joe’s” survival depends on the group survival he needs to think as the group thinks.
Look at the image: this is teamwork in action. It’s plain common sense. All goose has its place in this sort of “configuration” (or company). They adjust themselves to fit in the group. They are using their common sense for a higher good of the group. Each one of these gooses is unique. There are small differences in age, color, sex, and even food preferences in all these gooses. But they all have three things in common:
1) They know where they want to go (or what they are leaving behind)
2) They all know what’s their place in the group
3) They all know that they need each other in order to achieve their destination
Be like this goose in your phone interview:
1) Know the company’s vision and values
2) Know how can you leverage your boss
3) Be humble and acknowledge the company’s success
You are not a “hero”. You are another unique “Joe”. Even the goose at the front is an average “Joe”…