Phone interviews are becoming a more frequent part of the interview process. I have been in the industry for almost ten years and over the past few years, I have seen an increase of requests for phone interviews. This being said – I have also learned that a lot of candidates are not prepared to successfully pass a phone interview. Being well prepared for your standard phone interview questions and understanding the proper etiquette that is expected from hiring managers is very important. A few simple tips that I use to prepare candidates for phone interviews are below: 1.If you are taking your phone interview on your cell phone – make sure you are in a quiet location and have 100% reception. You do not want to have the hiring manager asking you to repeat yourself due to background noise or worse yet having the call drop half way through your call with a hiring manager. 2. Tone is very important when you are speaking to a hiring manager. You want to make sure you speak clearly and answer all questions direct and to the point. From past experiences, candidates that answer questions with long drawn out answers – typically do not pass the phone screen phase. Also, make sure you are speaking professionally. Do not answer questions with “yep, nope, umm, etc...” This is your chance to make the best first impression and your only chance! 3.Resume Review – Make sure you review your own resume thoroughly prior to having a phone interview. Most hiring managers are going to do a resume review with you and simply ask you a question about a specific bullet point on your resume. You do not want to be caught off guard with this part of a phone interview. Being prepared is key! 4.Company Review – Check out the company you are interviewing with. Look at their website, LinkedIn Page, the Interviewee’s LinkedIn page and read any articles about the company. You want to be as educated as possible about what the company is currently doing in their market and be prepared for the question “What do you know about our company?” from the hiring manager. If you as a candidate can be prepared with the above four points I have made, you should be able to successfully pass a phone interview. Just remember, a phone interview is your 1st and sometimes your only chance to sell yourself to a potential hiring manager so you need to make the best of that thirty minutes you are given. Good Luck in you career search! Robyn Wolf - Senior Technical Recruiter