Heather Krasna, PhD & Associates

Congrats! You have a phone interview. There are plusses and minuses of phone interviews. These days, I would ask if you can do a video-based interview via Skype so you can at least see your interviewers. But if not, you can prep for a phone interview a few ways.

The main advantage of a phone interview is:

* You can have your resume, “problem-action-result” statements/accomplishment stories, etc. in front of you as you answer questions

Disadvantages of phone interviews are:

* You don’t have the visual feedback of people’s facial expressions to know how they might be responding to your answers or whether you’re talking for too long.

* If you are interviewing with multiple people, you can’t see who is asking which question

To overcome the disadvantages:

* Try to visualize the person on the other end of the phone line. If possible, try doing a Google image search to imagine what they look like.

* Try not to drone on too long in your answers– keep them to 2-3 minutes, because otherwise you may be going on too long

* Because you are only being judged on your voice and words, be especially careful to try to avoid expressions like “like” or “you know” or “um.” But try not to be too self-conscious.

* Try to smile. Smiling does come across in your vocal tone and makes you sound friendly. Be aware of your vocal tone, and try to show enthusiasm through the voice.