The Interview in Disguise

“ May I speak to Mr. Phelps please? Hi, this is Lorna from AYT recruiting. I am calling regarding your application for a Client Services Manager position”. It is so exciting to receive this call, about that job we really wanted. And now you have a chance.

Once the shock wears off, you find yourself in a one-to-one with the interviewer, whom you’ve never met before and who’s facial expressions and body language you don’t get to see. This may be the only chance to make an impression, and your talking will save you or sink you.

In the best scenario, the call will be expected. You might have received an email expressing interest in conducting a phone interview and asking you the time at which you would be available to take the call. At other times, the call might catch you completely off-guard.  But it can happen anytime, as you’ve undoubtedly provided your telephone number in the hundreds of resumes you’ve sent out over the past few months.

The voice may only wish to confirm your interest in the position and to invite you for a personal interview.  But most times, the interviewer takes this opportunity to ask you a few things about yourself and even your experience, to test whether you might be the person they are looking for, and discard candidates that are clearly unsuitable for the role. So, whether the person who will interview you later is the same or a different one, this initial call might be a very important one, and a disguised first interview.

You don’t want to be caught unprepared.  You have not yet agreed to an interview.  You may not be sure you are still interested. You may be getting out of the shower, or in the middle of some brain-draining piece of writing.  Your TV may be on, or you could be entertaining friends or fighting with your dog. If you are a normal human being with limited memory, you will probably not remember the job description and why you are the best possible person for the vacancy.  You might even confuse this role or the company with other similar ones you’ve been interested in.

If any of the above is the case, this is not the right time for you to make your best impression. That is ok -you are not supposed to be prepared all the time. So don’t spoil your chances.  Don’t be afraid to ask the caller for clarifications.  He or she can probably refresh your memory on exactly what job this call is about.  Try to get as much information from them as possible. While being positive and expressing interest, let the interviewer know that you would like to review the job description and your application materials and ask if you can call them back later that day.  Once you are prepared, you will be in a much better position to answer his or her questions.

Video Job Interviews (www.entervista.com) are a good way to avoid impromptu calling. Invitations for interviews come in through email, and you can make sure that you are prepared by the time you hit that play button.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, December 11th, 2008 at 5:07 am and is filed under Entervista Team. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.