Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2012 18:42:54 GMT -5
A few things that haven't been mentioned: Sometimes standing while you talk makes you project your voice and sound a little more forceful.
Since she'll be on the phone she can have all kinds of notes in front of her. The best advice I ever got on interviewing (I still use it) is to think of the reasons you're best qualified for the job and then find anecdotes that illustrate those qualities. They don't even have to be job-related stories- they can relate to her education, for example. I have a video interview tomorrow and you can be darn sure I'm going to work into the conversation that I finished a triathlon today. It's not in the least job-related but it shows that I push my limits, I'm persistent and even though I have grey hair I've got a lot of energy.
She should be prepared (through research) to tell them why she wants to work there, and in that job. Good luck to her!
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on May 24, 2012 16:01:35 GMT -5
Since it looks like the interview is tomorrow, I'll chime in here. First: Ignore the people who say they'll ask her to Skype during or after the interview. It would be completely unprofessional of them to do so. Unless they asked in advance if she would have access to a computer during the interview, for all they know, she's doing this on her lunch break in the car. A professional organization will not make assumptions about any of that. They asked for a phone interview, tehy are expecting a phone interview- not video chat.
Second: Make sure she goes to the restroom 15 minutes before the interview is supposed to start. She needs to let everyone else know not to call her around that time, or do her best to find out what number (or at least what area code) the call will be coming from, so that if another call does come in around the time the interview call is supposed to be coming, she can know not to answer it. If she is calling in to a conference call, she should make sure to call in a couple minutes early, just like she would show up at a location a couple minutes before the interview was scheduled to start. In either case, if the call hasn't come, or other people haven't joined the phone interview within 10 minutes after the scheduled start time, she should reach out to her initial contact. She can do it through email, or by calling the phone number that should be in the emails she was sent for if she has further questions. (If she won't be near a computer, she should have this number written down and with her.) We actually decided to stop moving forward with a candidate after confusion about whether it was a conference call or us calling her, even though we thought the message had been clear. We made this decision not because we could not get ahold of her during the scheduled interview time, but because she never attempted to contact us- not until we sent her a note saying we would not be moving forward. Her response "but you never called"- well, neither did she.
If there are multiple people on the phone and they have done phone interviews before, they should be good about identifying themselves each time they speak. They know very well that she can't see them and should not be expected to learn everyone's voices. If they don't tell her, she might want to ask if they are all in the same room, or coming from different locations. It's important to know if they can see each other or not, because it does change the dynamic and the timing.
But the number one thing on a phone interview is do NOT be afraid of silence. The one thing I've really found is that people tend to talk more on phone interviews than they otherwise would. You have to remember that the person/people on the other side of the line don't have any more visual cues than you do, so they need your silence in order to know you're done answering the question and that it is safe for them to talk. And if they are all in different rooms, people may take a moment before they say anything to see if any of their colleagues have something to say. However, it's pretty much guaranteed that at least once during the conversation, your wife and one of the interviewers will start to talk at the same time. When that happens, she should stop talking and wait for the interviewer to ask her to continue with what she was saying, but make sure that she keeps that point short and sweet.
And even if there is only one person on the phone with her, remember that person has to be taking notes, so again, be comfortable with silence.
Oh, and the email she has should tell her who she is interviewing with- it should have names and titles. If it does not, she might want to send them an email first thing in the morning (I'm noticing that it is 5pm your time right now) asking who she's interviewing with. That's something they should be able to tell her, and show initiative on her part. This also lets her know if she's interviewing with the person who will be her boss or just an HR person (more like a screening interview). But since it seems they asked her some screening questions via email, I'd guess it's more "first interview" level, with the hiring team.
Best of luck to her!
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2012 20:41:49 GMT -5
Thank you and the interview is indeed tomorrow. She took the day off and will be answering the call from home because she did not want to have any interruptions if she took it at work.
Fingers crossed!!!!
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suesinfl
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Post by suesinfl on May 24, 2012 21:40:42 GMT -5
Since it looks like the interview is tomorrow, I'll chime in here. First: Ignore the people who say they'll ask her to Skype during or after the interview. It would be completely unprofessional of them to do so. Unless they asked in advance if she would have access to a computer during the interview, for all they know, she's doing this on her lunch break in the car. A professional organization will not make assumptions about any of that. They asked for a phone interview, tehy are expecting a phone interview- not video chat. Second: Make sure she goes to the restroom 15 minutes before the interview is supposed to start. She needs to let everyone else know not to call her around that time, or do her best to find out what number (or at least what area code) the call will be coming from, so that if another call does come in around the time the interview call is supposed to be coming, she can know not to answer it. If she is calling in to a conference call, she should make sure to call in a couple minutes early, just like she would show up at a location a couple minutes before the interview was scheduled to start. In either case, if the call hasn't come, or other people haven't joined the phone interview within 10 minutes after the scheduled start time, she should reach out to her initial contact. She can do it through email, or by calling the phone number that should be in the emails she was sent for if she has further questions. (If she won't be near a computer, she should have this number written down and with her.) We actually decided to stop moving forward with a candidate after confusion about whether it was a conference call or us calling her, even though we thought the message had been clear. We made this decision not because we could not get ahold of her during the scheduled interview time, but because she never attempted to contact us- not until we sent her a note saying we would not be moving forward. Her response "but you never called"- well, neither did she. If there are multiple people on the phone and they have done phone interviews before, they should be good about identifying themselves each time they speak. They know very well that she can't see them and should not be expected to learn everyone's voices. If they don't tell her, she might want to ask if they are all in the same room, or coming from different locations. It's important to know if they can see each other or not, because it does change the dynamic and the timing. But the number one thing on a phone interview is do NOT be afraid of silence. The one thing I've really found is that people tend to talk more on phone interviews than they otherwise would. You have to remember that the person/people on the other side of the line don't have any more visual cues than you do, so they need your silence in order to know you're done answering the question and that it is safe for them to talk. And if they are all in different rooms, people may take a moment before they say anything to see if any of their colleagues have something to say. However, it's pretty much guaranteed that at least once during the conversation, your wife and one of the interviewers will start to talk at the same time. When that happens, she should stop talking and wait for the interviewer to ask her to continue with what she was saying, but make sure that she keeps that point short and sweet. And even if there is only one person on the phone with her, remember that person has to be taking notes, so again, be comfortable with silence. Oh, and the email she has should tell her who she is interviewing with- it should have names and titles. If it does not, she might want to send them an email first thing in the morning (I'm noticing that it is 5pm your time right now) asking who she's interviewing with. That's something they should be able to tell her, and show initiative on her part. This also lets her know if she's interviewing with the person who will be her boss or just an HR person (more like a screening interview). But since it seems they asked her some screening questions via email, I'd guess it's more "first interview" level, with the hiring team. Best of luck to her! Wow, what great advice. I've never had a phone interview, but I am saving this information just in case. Thank you!
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8 Bit WWBG
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Post by 8 Bit WWBG on May 25, 2012 15:16:26 GMT -5
So how did it go?
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2012 8:01:05 GMT -5
She told me Horrible She was being interviewed by 3 people She was nervous and it seems it showed. They kept on asking her about her current living situation and she explained (she lives in poughkeepsie, husband lives in oneonta and she would live to move to Oneonta) but she felt they thought she was lying because one person asked her afterwards how will she be doing her job in Fishkill when she moves to Oneonta and she explained she will not be moving to Oneonta till she gets a job here. Besides that she said they were a moment of silence and they said: we are not ignoring you, we are just taking notes. She believes she heard someone snicker or something. All said she hates phone interview.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2012 9:16:40 GMT -5
Wow cawiau, those sound like some rude interviewers!! I would never do a phone interview with 3 interviewers by phone. Even in person I would probably only do that for a 2nd interview & only if it is professional level job where they would have 'panel' sort of work/presentations and stuff like that. It is intimidating to the interviewee, so I try to be respectful of that -- everyone is nervous about interviews!!
For your wife's part, how they conducted the interview gives her some insight to who they are & after experiencing that I'd really question if they were people I'd even want to work with. If they are jerks in the interview, they are jerks every day.
Even if someone totally bombs the interview I'd still be respectful of them and their time and interest in my company. I've had some doozy interviews recently where the candidate clearly did not write their own resume & doesn't have the qualifications they indicated. I'm not sure why people want to pretend they can do things they have no knowledge about. It brings their integrity into question for me.
If I think the person is really nervous, I'll ask some questions about their pets or things like that where they can answer without feeling uptight so they will loosen up. Nervousness is not a 'rule out' criteria for me. What it tells me is that you are serious about your application for the job. Also that you like to do good work and you care how you are seen by others.
C - The not believing her story is also just rude. Intelligent people look for their jobs before they move in current economy & I would not find a split family odd at all.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on May 26, 2012 12:24:10 GMT -5
They probably already have someone they want to hire and are being forced to waste other people's time with interviews to satisfy some rule. I hate that trick.
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simser
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Post by simser on May 28, 2012 18:59:42 GMT -5
Oh man do I have stories about phone interviews. On one I was asked if I had a brother. I have a very unusual last name so I assumed they knew a guy with the same last name (who's probably a cousin). Nope... they wanted to know if I grew up with a brother because they were worried about whether I would fit in the job if I didn't grow up with a brother. Something about being a female working with 8 guys? On another I was asked to do calculus. From England. On the phone. I then looked at my boss (who is British and friends with one of the 3 interviewing) that all British people were weird. On the other, cooler hand, one of the interviewers had been in space! The only job I got, I never had a phone interview for. I had a phone interview for another job in the same company, and they brought me in for 2 interviews based on that. I got the 2nd job. It seems that phone interviews are very common in the scientific field. All of my jobs had one first. If I had kept interviewing I would have had more (I was contacted about one from Australia the day I got my job offer). It seems to be to weed out the candidates that don't know what they're talking about.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on May 29, 2012 13:42:17 GMT -5
Believe it or not, phone interviewers do need to take notes. Remember I said "do NOT be afraid of silence". She may have heard a snicker, or she may have heard someone stifling a cough or a sneeze. It is reasonable for them to ask about the commute/living situation. Your wife does professional level work, so 3 people on the phone interview isn't that odd.
It may very well be that she read the situation right, or it could be that her nerves have her reading it wrong. Remember, we are all primed for visual clues and the phone interview doesn't give us any of those.
In my experience, if the phone interviewer doesn't want to hire you- you know. I had one interview where, at the end, when I was asked if I had any question, I really wanted to ask "Why did you even bother calling me" because the interviewer made if very clear throughout the conversation that I had the wrong kind of masters degree. (Per that person, an MBA and 10+ years working in healthcare administration wasn't good enough for an administrative position at a global health organization. Only people with MPHs should have been considered for any position at the organization- including file clerk.)
Did they tell her what next steps would be, or when she should expect to hear from them? We always end our phone interviews with next steps and timelines.
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sheilaincali
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Post by sheilaincali on May 31, 2012 9:03:33 GMT -5
Carl- thank you for the timeliness of this thread. DH is up for a promotion at work and had an initial interview with his current boss and the other potential boss (would be a position coordinating for the two locations). He just texted me to tell me he has a follow up phone interview this afternoon with people further up the chain. I texted him all the advice that everyone on here had. So THANK YOU
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2012 9:07:22 GMT -5
She told me Horrible She was being interviewed by 3 people She was nervous and it seems it showed. They kept on asking her about her current living situation and she explained (she lives in poughkeepsie, husband lives in oneonta and she would live to move to Oneonta) but she felt they thought she was lying because one person asked her afterwards how will she be doing her job in Fishkill when she moves to Oneonta and she explained she will not be moving to Oneonta till she gets a job here. Besides that she said they were a moment of silence and they said: we are not ignoring you, we are just taking notes. She believes she heard someone snicker or something. All said she hates phone interview. wow, it's bad enough having a phone interview - but being interviewed by 3 people at once over the phone? Talk about intimidating.
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8 Bit WWBG
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Post by 8 Bit WWBG on May 31, 2012 9:21:15 GMT -5
I'm sorry to hear it didn't go well. At least she does have a job already.
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