So you have an opportunity for a telephone interview with a company you have always wanted to work for and you now get a call from your recruiter to prepare you for the interview. Your recruiter will probably start off by stressing that, “The only purpose of participating in a telephone interview is to be asked inside for a face-to-face interview”.

You may have read that this is a time for the company to learn all they can learn about you and for you to learn all you can about the company. Wrong! You will want to prepare intelligent questions but your recruiter will tell you that every question you ask and every answer you give must pass this test, “Does this move me toward a face-to-face interview?” Otherwise, it may not be the appropriate time for that question. In the real world, no one receives a job offer from just a telephone interview and until you have had your face-to-face interview and have a job offer in your hand, the ball is not in your court. Advancing to a face-to-face interview is the best you can accomplish from the telephone interview. Why not maximize your odds of being invited for a face-to-face interview by going for that one critical goal rather than diminishing that probability by diluting your goal oriented efforts.

Because this is a telephone interview, plan around the advantages and disadvantages of being on the telephone. Neither you nor the interviewer will have the non-verbal cues that we normally depend upon for up to 70% of the content of our face-to-face encounters. You will need to listen much more carefully than when you can see the other person and you will need to intentionally project your energy level and enthusiasm with your voice. Some people stand up and are animated while talking on the telephone to increase the sound of energy and enthusiasm.

If possible, use a hard wired telephone. Neither cell phones nor portable phones typically give you the clarity and fidelity needed to pick up many verbal nuances, nor do they give the reliability to avoid a dropped call at the most critical point in the conversation.

You will want to make sure you have a well organized workspace from which to conduct the telephone interview, a workspace appropriate for a confidential conversation and devoid of interruptions, background noise or distractions. The interviewer will typically be working from your resume so you need to know exactly what it says. Reviewing your resume, the ad or job posting and the job description, if you have it, will likely bring to mind many of the questions the interviewer will be asking. In addition to your resume, you can have all your notes laid out; your prepared questions to guide the conversation toward your strengths and to show your preparation, and lists of your accomplishments.

Develop and rehearse a number of short stories about each of those significantly related accomplishments. To avoid getting off-subject or rambling use the acronym P-A-R for –“This was the PROBLEM we faced, this was the ACTION we took, and this was the RESULT we attained”. Boil the results down to the actual dollars saved, increased sales earned, man-hours reduced, size of budget managed, size of capital project brought in on time and under budget, etc... If the accomplishment represents a significant dollar amount, carry the calculations out to the bottom line dollars saved or earned for the company. If the dollars are not particularly impressive, but the accomplishment is significant when expressed as a percentage, then shift your units used to percentage.

• To avoid getting off-subject or rambling use the acronym P-A-R for –“This was the PROBLEM we faced, this was the ACTION we took, and this was the RESULT we attained”. $$$$$$

Particularly script out and rehearse your descriptions of anything that may be embarrassing or difficult for you to discuss, - subjects such as your reason for looking for a new job, or worse. Be honest and straight forward, making sure you answer the question without raising even more questions, and while always putting a positive spin on your description. It never serves your purpose to say anything negative about your prior company or supervisor so always remain positive and upbeat. Do not increase the importance of a potentially negative subject by bringing it up yourself or dwelling on it more than is necessary. But, when the subject is raised, your method and ease of handling it will quite often determine the importance the interviewer places on the subject.

When the interviewer presses you to describe a weaknesses or a failure, describe a weakness you have overcome or a failure which caused you to develop new and valuable skills.

If the interviewer asks you the screening out question, “What salary are you looking for?” find a half-dozen ways to avoid giving a number or even a dollar range - like, “I am looking for the best combination of company, job content and salary that I can get with my qualifications”. This type of answer accomplishes several things:

1. It may delay the salary discussion until you know more about the potential salary range and bonuses, what is going to be required of you for that salary, and hopefully delay your answer until the hiring official has determined he can not afford to not hire you.
2. You are subordinating salary to other more important things, such as the quality of company and desirability of the job content.
3. If you omit salary you are possibly setting yourself up to be low-balled in their offer and if you express salary as your primary motivator you are always suspect.

If at the end of the conversation the interviewer has not invited you to participate in a face-to-face interview, show your interest by suggesting, “I like what I hear. I am available to travel over the weekend and interview on Monday. What did you have in mind?”