Job Seeker’s Guide to a Phone Interview

In today’s global and mobile economy, many job seekers regularly apply for positions that are hundreds or thousands of miles away from their current job and home — perhaps even in a different country. Long gone are the days where everybody stays at the same job for 50 years, or even stays in the same city or state for their entire career.

As a result, phone interviews are an incredibly common method that hiring managers and recruiters use to screen applicants and pare down the applicant pool. After all, it’s a lot easier for a hiring manager to pick up the phone in Boston to call someone in Chicago than it is to schedule and make the time for an in-person interview when a phone call can easily tell them all they need to know before crossing that person off the applicant list. One Forbes article estimated that up to half of screening interviews take place over the phone, not in person. This makes sense. Phone interviews do not require as much time and can be conducted outside the company’s normal work hours, which can be helpful for certain job applicants.

Many positions may even require multiple phone interviews before they call you for an in-person interview. Perhaps the hiring manager had a good first impression of you, but they want the person who will be your direct supervisor to talk to you before they commit to flying you in for an in-person…