Aim for business casual. This means that men dress in slacks, a button-up-the-front shirt and a tie. For woman, a pair of slacks, or a nice skirt and a blouse will work. This may seem silly to do, because the interviewer can’t see you. However, this can help boost your confidence, which the interviewer will hear in your voice over the phone. By taking a phone interview as seriously as a face-to face-interview, you have a better chance at not being weeded out of being asked for a second interview.
Practice questions
"What’s your greatest strength/greatest weakness?" and "Tell me a little bit about you" are standard questions in an interview setting. Be ready to give the answer and give specific examples to back these up. When telling about yourself, focus on personal/professional goals or achievements. This way you can stay focused on you and what you can bring to the company. The interviewer doesn’t care if you have a dog and three cats. They want to know what you have done that makes you unique. A good example is the goal of running a marathon and how your training is going. This shows a side of you that is driven and loves challenges.
Show Not Tell
"I believe my greatest strength is leading people. For example, (situation) I had to organize and work with a team of six people to create an ad for a brand of toothpaste aimed at kids. (task) Creating the ad was our main goal, but we had to make sure it was new and fresh. (action) So we all came together, brainstormed for an hour, and made two different ads. (result) At the big meeting with the client, one of our ideas was selected for their campaign."
This is a very short example, but it shows you how to use the technique. This is a very good way of approaching behavioral questions. These questions are open-ended questions with no right or wrong answer. The interviewer wants to see how you handle the pressure. Some may even throw very odd questions at you like what type of carousel animal would you be and why or what rock star would you be and why. The only way to prepare for these is to know they are possible, and relax when they are asked. There is no right answer.
As mentioned above, showing the interviewer through your examples will help you ace the interview. A method that is useful is the STAR technique. This stands for situation, task, action, and result. By capturing your response in this form, you can avoid tangents, and long answers. The interviewer only has so much time to take this call and if they get bored, it will end fast. So, if you keep your answers short, sweet and to the point, you can keep their interest. Also it helps with keeping yourself organized. Here is an example of answering the question: What is your greatest strength?