I’m currently helping quite a few students prepare for telephone interviews.  They have become, by far, the most common type of first round interview for the larger recruiters, and it’s not hard to understand why:

1 – They are cheaper for the recruiter – no travel expenses, no room hire, less time on small talk (so shorter interviews), meaning interviewers can get through more candidates per day;

2 – Less disruption for the candidate – only an hour out of their day, less dry cleaning of their only suit & no need to clog the credit card up with travel expenses;

3 – We spend lots of our working life on the phone – so it makes sense that recruiters want to test an applicant’s telephone manner.

There are downsides of course – 10 or more phone interviews per day makes for an incredibly boring life for the interviewers, and so much of communication is body language which can’t be assessed.

But perhaps the biggest downside is that recruiters say some candidates don’t take them seriously – they seem to prepare less, and therefore perform less well.

So the best thing to do if you’re invited to a phone interview is to treat the same as any other interview – which means preparation, preparation, preparation.

Don’t forget that Martyn & I are here to help all ICMA Centre students & Alumni.