12 Tips to Prepare & Nail Your Next Phone Screen

How To Be Prepared & Nail Your Next Phone Screen We are now entering holiday season, in business they call this the “busy season”; Amazon prime boxes are flying off your front porches, your families holiday parties are coming up, & you still have not landed that perfect job, and you are still figuring out why. We are going to keep it short & brief tonight, and just provide some of the best tips on how to prepare for your next phone screen interview (and nail it!) If you have been out of the interviewing process for a long time, some things have changed. Yes, yes we all “think” we know how to interview, but do we really? A lot has changed. It’s 2021, work places have had to shift to ways that were unthinkable due to the pandemic, which brought us more jobs in wonderful ways & then in others, a difficult market to find candidates. Again, this mirrors my “The Great Resignation 2021” blog. It’s difficult for you as the candidate, and believe it not for the companies as well…

1. First make sure you are in a quiet environment, and try not to do a phone screen while driving.

2. Make eye contact (if it is a video phone screen), have a glass of water, and ensure you are focused on each question.

3. There are far too many distractions that can negatively impact you nailing your phone screen.

4. Always remember how you applied and where you found/heard of this employer.

5. Make sure you do the research on the company! This is huge for 2 reasons. First, you want to make sure you are interested and your goals align with the companies mission and vision. Second, recruiters and hiring manager’s want to know what even made you interested and what skills you can bring to the table as well as your career goals).

6. Tell them a little about yourself. The hiring managers like to know a little bit about you and not just your 9 to 5 grind. They also want to know if you will be a good personality fit. That’s important for you just as much as it is important to them. Who wants to get stuck with working next to someone they found out after their first week that they absolutely cannot work with this person (for one reason or another.) I know for sure that I don’t!!!

7. Ask them your questions. This isn’t just them interviewing you, you are interviewing them as well. You don’t want to go through this whole process and find out it was not a good fit for you. It is wasting your time and theirs.

8. Something I have learned to let go as I grow into my recruiter career in HR is do not be afraid to find out what the pay is during the initial phone screen! I have had many friends tell me they have gone through 4 total interviews and they still didn’t know what the pay was. My thought and what I know is, why waste anyone’s time?

9. Find out what the next steps are in the hiring process. Who will contact who? When are they looking to fill the position by? What are the pre-employment steps? etc. etc.

10. Get their best e-mail or contact information (or multiple contacts, situational).

11. Last but not least, just like a sign off of a cover letter, thank them for their time and that you look forward to hearing back from them for the next steps.

12. Post pre-screen interview (yay, you made it!), following up from the verbal “thank you”, it’s time to send the e-mail “thank you”. This shows you are prepared to take on this position and very interested and your career goals align with “X” company.

Be prepared. I cannot say this enough. Being prepared for your initial phone screen overall is so important. It sets the tone for the rest of the interview process. You need to know if this will be a good fit for you as as much as it is to them. My recap to you all is simple, come prepared.

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