A phone interview is no less exciting than a classic one when we see the interviewer’s face. We cannot guess how much we impressed or disappointed the person with whom we just spoke. Waiting for feedback often can be stressful. After all, it is much better to understand whether you failed the interview sooner rather than later.

However, professional recruiters and resume experts from ResumeCVWriter explain how to know if you failed a phone interview, so read on and learn.

Preparing for a phone interview guide

A phone interview has its advantages over a personal meeting, both for the candidate and for the recruiter:

• time-saving
• conversation to the point
• less stress
• no need to get to the venue

Also, a phone interview excludes subjectivity, due to appearance. But this does not negate the need to prepare for this event. Good preparation includes written questions to a potential employer, as well as pre-prepared answers to a recruiter’s questions. There are also some subtleties that may add to your chances of success in the interview, but more on that later.

Typical phone interview questions review

Recruiters ask questions to get to know their job seeker better. So they try to assess your skills, personal qualities, experience, and opportunities. Therefore, often any interview can include questions like:

1. Tell about yourself or describe yourself.
2. Why do you want this job?
3. What are your salary expectations?
4. What type of management style do you prefer?
5. Why are you looking for a job?
6. When can you start?

Also, a recruiter may ask you to tell them about your potential role in the company or some test or scenario question. Or there may be questions regarding the specifics of your job. All you need in this case, is to calmly and honestly answer questions. If you feel awkward or have difficulty giving answers, ask for a minute to think.

How to prepare for a phone interview

Prepare a quiet place for a phone conversation—a comfortable and prepared place immediately set you up for a business conversation. There should be nothing that would distract you or interfere with your interview. Therefore, to create the best conditions for a phone interview, do the following:

• clean up the room where you are talking
• ask your loved ones not to bother you at the time of the interview
• turn off electronic devices that may be distracting, like TV, radio, other phones, etc.
• don’t let pets in the room during the interview

If you’ve made suitable conditions you can concentrate on the questions and answers. In addition to the place of interview, you need to get yourself ready. In order to feel confident, you need to be self-disciplined. For this you need to:

• be vigorous and rested
• clean up
• write a list of answers to possible questions
• compose your own questions for the company
• print your resume
• check your phone battery
• prepare a pen and notepad
• dress formally

The last point is important because even if the employer does not see you, professional or and clean clothes will put you in the proper mindset for business communication and can make you feel more confident.

Phone screen interview: Is there any difference?

A phone screen interview is an option between a face-to-face meeting and a phone interview. At least you can see the other person. All described tips on preparing for a phone interview are no less relevant in relation to the on screen interview. Moreover, you can visually assess the success of the interview. If the headhunter on the screen:

• smiles
• gesticulating
• talks a lot about job
• asks a lot about you
• shows friendliness and looks at the screen

It indicates that at least you are of interest to the company. Otherwise, if your interviewer speaks monotonously, almost never looks at the screen and doesn’t change facial expressions, perhaps this is just a trivial interview for him or her.

Phone interview tips: How to do it right

Clear speech and confident answers determine the success of the phone interview. Perhaps the first time you may be unsuccessful, but with practice, you will gain confidence and stop being afraid of phone interviews. To quickly learn how to behave in a phone interview, note these tips:

• give concise answers
• observe etiquette
• try to call your interviewer by name
• speak clearly and distinctly
• don’t interrupt
• smile, because it makes your voice friendlier

This way you can show your best side, as a candidate for the work.

Questions to ask during a phone interview

Interviews are a mutual exchange of information about each other. So, if you answer the question, you are completely entitled to ask them a similar question. And you can learn more about the company and directly about the job by asking about:

• prospects
• functions
• tasks for job
• corporate culture
• motivation and goals
• colleagues and benefits package

If time permits and the interviewer does not mind, you can ask about success stories, the job system, etc. Respect the time of the recruiter and your own.

How to ace a phone interview successfully and get the job

Undoubtedly, the interview is an important stage for getting a job. And it is equally important to remain calm during a conversation. The fact is that excessive excitement can be confusing, and you can give the wrong answers or speak uncertainly. In addition, calm and confident speech will make it clear that you are a reliable candidate who will cope with the work and will not conflict with the team. Also, chances of success are increased if you:

• prepare
• answer questions briefly
• ask questions on the topic
• don’t interrupt
• speak fluently but not cheekily
• call the interviewer by name

As you can see, the phone interview is almost the same as a face-to-face meeting. Perhaps you have already encountered failures and it has made you skeptical. Or maybe this is your first such phone interview. In any case, regardless of the outcome, conduct yourself professionally and respect yourself and your interviewer.

What if I did it wrong: 5 signs of a failure

Of course, we all face failures in our careers, and it is normal. If you have passed the interview and are afraid that at this stage everything will end, first, don’t worry, and second, really think about whether or not you really failed? If, during an interview, a recruiter:

1. spoke boring and dryly,
2. was not interested in you
3. was unfriendly,
4. hastily ended the interview,
5. was reluctant to answer your questions

It is possible that you did not fit the company. Professional recruiters advise not to give up in such cases, but simply to press on in your job search.

If you still doubt, then a letter would be an excellent move. Write a thank you letter to the interviewer’s email and clarify the job. If you need expert help on writing a grammatically correct email, request professional writing help from Gowritemypaper or edit your final letter using Edit-Proofread service. In the end, even if you failed in this interview, keep positive and press on because your work is waiting for you, just keep searching.