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Note: What follows are actual questions from Traditional System questions found in popular job hunting newspaper columns or on job hunting websites. The Traditional System responses are excerpts from nationally-published columnists’ advice.
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When the Phone Rings…
I've had two telephone interviews in the last month but I must have flunked because I didn't get any call-backs or interview invitations. Should I say I'm on my way out the door and refuse the interview or what?
Traditional System response: Telephone interviewing is a time and budget issue. When recruiters, internal and external, cannot fill a position with someone who has held the identical job elsewhere or who is referred by an employee or trusted third party, they turn to other factors as a basis of choosing candidates who will be awesome, or at least acceptable, performers in today's fast-paced environment. Telephone screening interviews have become a fixture in contemporary job search.
CALL BACK: The conversational advantage is with the caller, not the person receiving an unexpected call. That's why you should attempt to eliminate surprise-factor goofs by not answering questions when a call comes in. Instead, schedule an appointment for your telephone interview so that you can be well prepared to respond to likely questions:
"I'm quite interested in speaking with you about my qualifications. Unfortunately, this is not a good time for me. Can I call you tomorrow? Or is there another time you'd prefer?" If the recruiter insists on calling you back, be ready 30 minutes early.
DRESS REHEARSAL: Treat a telephone interview with all the care you would invest in a face-to-face chat. Not only should you read the job description several times, but reread your own resume and put both documents in front of you. Make a ledger sheet, writing out the job's requirements in the left column and your matching qualifications in the right column. And have paper and pen handy for note taking.
Your goal is to sound smart and recommends that you speak a bit more slowly and clearly than when you are in person. Most people do a little lip reading and may miss compacted words and phrases.
EQUIPMENT TIPS: Use a remote phone or headset so you can gesture while you talk. This will make you come across as more forceful than if you are sitting in your high-backed leather chair with your feet up on the desk. To sound more energetic, enthusiastic and pleasant - try a few spins with a tape recorder.
FEEDBACK IS GOOD: After making a statement, inquire: "Is this the kind of information you're seeking? Have I sufficiently answered your question about my customer relations experience?"
SALARY QUESTIONS: If the caller is insistent that you name your price category, give a range, one you have researched in advance on such Web sites as salary.com.
QUESTION DIVERSION: Keep pushing for a face-to-face interview. One way to do that is to hold back on a few key questions to give the decision-maker a reason to see you. Decide in advance which likely important questions you will use to leverage the meeting.
Example: "That's an important question. With my skills in management, it's one that I feel I can't adequately answer over the telephone. Can we set up a meeting so that I can better explain my qualifications? I'm free on Tuesday morning. Is that a good time for you?"
PERSIST WITH CHARM: Don't fall for provocative requests to describe negative experiences in your job history. Candidates who avoid negatives are presumed to make the best employees, say consultants. Avoid giving long, involved, detailed responses.
Ask for a next step, call back to see what's happening and don't give up after a couple of messages aren't returned. Follow up!
Contrarian System response: The only thing worse than a Traditional System telephone interview is a Traditional System face-to-face interview. They just can’t see you sweat on the phone.
The premise for a Traditional System interview is that someone in Human Resources has the authority to decide – based upon this one conversation – if you have what it takes to qualify to be considered to be hired for a particular job. Essentially, this process is one of weeding – the survivors get to take the next step and the losers wonder what happened.
But the problem with this line of thinking is that it puts you on the defensive. You have to explain, justify or elaborate on the information you’ve already provided to them, and no matter what you say, you’ll never know if it was the right thing.
The HR person then takes your answers and compares them to the answers of the other people they’ve interrogated, uh, interviewed, and determines if you “fit” what they’re looking for. But the HR person probably won’t be your boss, so all they’re doing is acting as an intermediary for the person who has the actual authority to hire you.
The truth is that Human Resources typically has no authority to hire anyone above the level of secretary. If you are a manager, executive, professional or technical person at any level – from intern up to CEO – HR can’t hire you, only your future boss can, so you should only be talking to your future boss, not HR.
Here is the secret to acing any interview of any kind: all you have to remember is that this conversation or meeting is NOT about you! It’s actually about your future boss, the company and the challenge or opportunity they’re facing.
You see, the company is hiring because they have a challenge they haven’t yet solved or an opportunity they want to pursue, and they will hire the first person who they believe can help them accomplish their goals, which could easily be you.
But it’s only your future boss – not an HR intermediary – who has to hold that belief. No one else’s opinion about you matters because only your future boss has the authority to hire you.
Let’s say you’re going for a job as a salesperson for a manufacturer of patient care equipment for hospitals and nursing homes. You’ve done your homework on this company and know they’re planning a new line of stainless steel bedside commodes, which you believe will be an instant hit.
Should the HR person call, don’t allow the talk to be about you; instead focus the call on the company like this: “I’d be happy to chat with you. Have you finalized the design of your new line of stainless steel bedside commodes? When do you expect to start pre-marketing them to hospitals?”
These questions will fluster the HR person because they’ll be unable to answer your questions, and will attempt to turn the focus back on you. You then say, “Thank you very much for calling, but I’m going to have to speak to the sales manager about this. Have a nice day.” Then you hang up the phone and call the sales manager who is the only person who matters as far as you’re concerned right now.
Don’t be concerned about HR. They have no authority to say “yes,” can’t talk to you as one professional to another, and can’t hire you, unless you are an HR professional and are talking to the HR department manager.
And should it be your future boss on the phone? You two have a wonderful conversation about his new products, and the next thing you know, he’ll be saying, “When can you come in and see me?”
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