phone interview questions
Phone Interview Questions
Preparing for a telephonic interview and wondering what questions you will be asked? Well... then you have come to the right place. Through this Buzzle article you will get to know a few questions and also some tips for you to follow. Keep reading...
Phone interviews are preferred these days by most of the organizations to shortlist candidates for personal interview. It is an important part of job search process. The questions are no different from questions asked during personal interviews. Prepare well in advance about what you are going to speak regarding your skill sets, experience, background, expectations, etc., using the tips given below.
Questions and Answers
In any interview, there are some questions which your recruiter will ask like
- What were your earnings in the previous employment. - Give actual figures about your earnings, inflating the figures will end up in your candidature being disqualified, since the employer will verfiy about your earnings through salary slips.
- Tell us about any challenging situation that you had encountered, and how did you handle it? - You should be specific about this. You can inform the recruiter about the problem and how you resolved it. For instance, due to some issues in the client requirements, the project was about to get delayed. As a project manager, I motivated my team to work extra hours for a week to meet the deadline.
- What were your roles and responsibilities? - You can mention about your role and responsibilities relevant to the job description in the advertisement. It will increase your chances of getting selected for the position.
- Why are you looking for a change? - Here is an important tip for you. Never speak anything maligning about your previous company. It will just make things worst for you. Never say that the compensation was very low or the job profile was awful. You could simply say that you are looking for a more challenging role. Or I was looking for an opportunity in this area.
- Apart from questions like 'why are you interested for this job' and 'what do you know about us', the employer will ask 'how long do you plan to work with us?'. The employer wants to judge the duration for which you will work for their company. A lot of people have a tendency to change jobs just because of hike offered in compensation. Convince the employer that you are looking for a long term career with the organization, and you are expecting a mutual growth from this job.
- The employer will next ask you about salary expectations. Always be realistic about salary expectations. You can research a bit about salaries offered for that particular position in your area and come up with a realistic figure. Based on your experience and skills, you can negotiate for a salary hike.
- May I know about the responsibilities a little more?
- What is the strength in my team/department?
- How soon am I expected to join, if I am offered a job?
- What is the frequency of traveling expected?
- Can I relocate in the future?
- What is the criterion for advancement?
- Anything else you would like to know about me?
- Keep a pencil or a pen and paper with you along with your CV to jot down notes. It's better if you have the job opening details with you as well.
- Similar to a personal face to face interview, you can introduce yourself and start a little conversation just to make yourself comfortable. Needless to say, you will follow etiquette by beginning with greeting the recruiter.
- A little smile will help you when speaking over the phone with recruiter. Smiling voice makes a lot of difference. It shows your enthusiasm and gives a little idea about your attitude.
- You have to convince your recruiter that you are the best candidate for that position by speaking about your skills and experience.
- One of the advantages is that you can prepare notes for the conversation, however, your employer should not feel that you are reading from the notes. Avoid any distractions and concentrate on what the recruiter is asking.