Another Phone Interview But Not The Same Strategy

Recently, I had a phone interview with the Government of Alberta for probably one of the coolest positions I have seen in a while. I'm so glad that they called for a phone interview - even if I don't get the job, it helps to boost my confidence that I am putting out good resumes and cover letters that attract employers.

To prep, I did much of the same work I did for my previous phone interviews at Google and Laserfiche. I wrote down questions that I thought they would ask and then answered them myself while practicing my stories over and over. Even though I do have a pretty decent memory, I won't be able to memorize and recite any of my stories during the interview - but that doesn't matter, the fact that I have thought about the stories I want to talk about and also the different experiences that I highlight in each story helps me trigger responses during the actual interview.

When doing a phone interview, or any interview for that matter, every little bit helps. I didn't dress super fancy, but I certainly wore a dress shirt and some nice pants to help me feel that I was in an interview (or formal setting). I made sure that I sat up and my posture was good so that I sound confident and relaxed over the phone. Sure a lot of these things are in other interview articles but to read about them and to practice them are two very different things.

I think what was very different about this preparation however, was the fact that I actually tailored a lot of my answers to the questions I thought I would give. For instance, if they asked "tell me about your approach to problem solving", I would describe a time I solved a problem and all the steps I took, then (and this is the important part), I would think about what kind of problem solving this opportunity had and then tie that into my answer.

So for example: Tell me about your approach to problem solving (position is web administrator)

During my work as ... for ...

....

.... (story over)

I know that this experience in problem solving will be valuable in my role as ... when I am helping to troubleshoot bugs on web pages.


I'm not even sure why I never did this before because it is such a simple thing to do and makes it easy for the interviewer to see that

1. You've done your research and you're pretty enthusiastic about the responsibilities of this position

2. You have good experience and it is transferable to the new position

3. You sum up your answers (which is good if you've talked a fairly long time about your experience)


Good luck with all your job searches!

Phone Interviews: Personal Feedback and Strategies for the Future

Just today, I finished my second phone interview ( a pre-screen interview I think) with a tech company. My first was with Google and the second was with Laserfiche. I wanted to take the time to talk about the two phone interviews, how important they are and how I thought they went. Then, I'll try to talk about strategies for doing your best on these phone interviews.

Firstly, phone interviews are so important that you have to take them as if they were real in-person interviews. Especially during this time, companies have too many job applications and they have to filter through them somehow - one of these ways is through a pre-screen phone interview to determine things like technical knowledge, communication and the ability to communicate difficult technical concepts, and basically whether the candidate has the right qualifications and values - all this leads up to, most likely, an actual in-person interview. It suffices to say that if you do not perform well during your phone interview, you will not proceed to the next step in the process.

Google Phone Interview:

First, some feedback on my Google phone interview. I certainly won't reveal the questions they asked me but I will say that this phone interview was the most technical I've had in a while (even including all my in-person interviews with other tech companies). Depending on what position you are interviewing for, you will have to know your stuff inside and out. I certainly did a lot of research on how to prepare for phone interviews, and almost all of them mention that you should practice speaking on the phone, whether it be on your voice mail or with a friend quizzing you.

To prepare for my phone interview, I wrote down some questions that I thought the Google recruiter might ask me and then some sample answers as well. I then tweaked a lot of those answers so that they were focused, talked about my qualifications and how they matched with the job position's needs. I also wrote down questions that I thought would be good to ask Google. What makes Google tick? Well, I didn't ask that but I certainly gained a bit of insight as to what it would be like to work at Google.

Laserfiche Phone Interview

The Laserfiche phone interview focused very much on behavioral questions. Again, out of respect for the company, I will not divulge specific questions, but my recruiter asked me a lot of questions about who I was, why I made the choices that I did, and also a few questions about why I would want to work for Laserfiche and what values were important to me.

Again, to prepare for the Laserfiche phone interview, I thought of and provided sample answers to some of the questions that I thought they would ask. For both phone interviews, I did some research on the company, its products and thought a bit about what the direction would be like in the future. Again, I also wrote down some questions that I thought would be good to ask and I had a really pleasant conversation with the recruiter (we started talking about how I participated in Toastmasters and how she was involved in public speaking).

General Strategies for Phone Interviews:

Probably the most important thing is to get a good night's rest before the phone interview. If you need things like your resume or a note pad, set everything up on a desk where your phone is and make sure you know when exactly your recruiter will be calling (be aware of time differences!).

The next most important thing is to take your time to collect your thoughts before giving your answer. I was quite nervous during my phone interview with Google and it certainly came across as I rushed to orate my answers, but I tried to calm down as the interview progressed and I tried to think about my answers before trying to communicate them to my recruiter (it also helps that the problems were quite difficult and I needed time to think about them :P).

In regards to the above point, you should do a lot of research about the company, its products as well as its competitors (you never know what can come up in a conversation). You should also figure out if you need to brush up on anything (ie. from a technical standpoint, if the position is a development position in Java and you haven't programmed in Java for a while, you should really read up on documentation). I certainly feel a bit nervous but I'm actively trying to make an effort to read through documentation on programming languages as well as trying to find projects to implement so that I have a chance to practice.

When you do a lot of research, you'll inevitably have great questions to ask the recruiter - this will help to show that you did research and also show that you are very much interested in what the company does.

The other thing that I find is if you do get into long discussions, the discussion will a lot of the time focus on what you said earlier in the conversation (for example, if you mention that you have had great ideas at your previous workplace, your recruiter may ask you for an example). Make sure you have something in mind when you mention something very general or abstract - it helps to transition from one point to another without missing a beat because your thoughts and communication skills will seem very strong.

Well, that's all I can think of for now - hope you get to the next step in the interview process !