Phone Interview Tips: Ace Your Phone Interview

I think service members have more to think about than the article covers.

Recieve Mode vs Interactive Mode. Many of the service members we speak to are used to only having one way conversations. i.e. being instructed or ordered. They aren't used to having dynamic conversations and asked for their opinions at every turn. If a transitioning service member is talking to a company and isn't interactive, he or she comes off as "stiff".

Smile. Another trait of a military versus commercial interview.. from a commerical perspective, we want to hire the person with the right attitude who can fit with our culture and current teams. Someone who comes off very serious and at lacks a sense of humor is often times looked over for a job opportunity. I know this is a phone conversation, but think back to your last phone conversation that was pleasant; I am certain you were able to tell the other person was smiling.

Leverage your advantage. It is a phone conversation, the interviewer won't see what you are doing unless it is a video phone call. Use the opportunity to write down the question. Make sure you are answering the question directly. In face to face interviews, you don't have this ability and it is very easy to wander off the original question. You can also go back after the interview and think about your answer in preparation for another interview/opportunity.

Do your homework. Who is it that you are interviewing with? Can you gain any more intel on the person via RallyPoint or LinkedIn profile? One advantage, if not too distracting, is having LinkedIn or RP up in the background while on your telephone call. Having context about who the person is and where they come from really adds to your advantage. When you are asking them about next steps and who the job reports to, etc. use your advantage and write the names and titles down; then if you have a follow up, you can already have your homework done.

It is still your job to soften the barrier between military service and civilian employment. Don't be afraid to ask if the person is familiar with the branch you are coming from; try to tailor your answers to have meaning in a civilian context. Many of us from the civilian side are very interested in your answers and often times learn more from you then vice versa.

Thanks for pointing us to these tips, MSG Robert Baker. I've had one phone interview in my life, and it was for the job I currently hold.

I tried to find a quiet place in the Pentagon where I could do the interview, so I went to the fifth floor in what I hoped would be a quiet corridor. Turns out, in the middle of the interview a maintenance team came along and made a LOT of noise with whatever equipment they were pushing with them. I had to apologize for the noise.

The advice to admit when you don't know an answer is excellent. I'm guilty of trying to wing it when I really don't know the answer, and - having sat in on several job interviews as part of the interviewing panel - I know it's usually easy to see right through that BS.

Finally, it's not mentioned in the article, but a plug for networking. Granted, it's not peculiar to phone interviews, but the reason I got this job, I'm sure, is that the people on the panel knew me, knew my work, my work ethic, etc., and I'm convinced that's what got me through the process and into my current chair.

Phone interviews can be really tricky. I had several interviews over the phone for the current job I have.