The initial phone interview has become a fairly recent development in the job interview process. Its only goal is to reduce the list of candidates to a working number for future interviews. As a candidate yourself, your only goal for the initial phone interview is to survive the cut. Here, are some tips to help you make that possible:

1. Control the time and place of the interview.

a. Generally, you can expect to get either a phone call or email concerning the initial phone call request. I personally prefer to shift my contacts through email or try to return the phone call thru email if they provide it. My reasons for this are:

i. You can return the phone call or email at a time when you are not distracted by other work duties or in a rush during lunch or a break.

ii. You are given an opportunity to briefly research the company and locate the job description. This will give you more confidence when responding to the email or making the return phone call.

iii. Sometimes, the interviewer may try to have an on-the-spot phone interview. If you have not prepared beforehand, you may be caught off-guard. As long as you return the phone calls and emails within 48 hours, you should be fine. Any longer than this, however, you risk getting yourself cut out of the interview process.

b. If possible, try to have the interview at a quiet place at home or a quiet place at the office. An empty presentation room or the cafeteria seating area during off hours could be a good fit.

Caveat: If you have not advertised that you are looking for another job at work, try to have these interviews offsite.

2. Be ready to answer resume questions and job skill questions.

a. Your goal is only to avoid stating anything that would put you out of the running for the interview. To help meet this objective, have a list of all the job skills mentioned in the job description with a number of bullets for each one that show how your background has met that skill. Also, be able to answer basic follow-up questions concerning your resume.

b. Since the initial phone interview is usually conducted by an HR representative or administrative assistant, the questions are unlikely to get very specific. For this reason, if you do not have a lot of time, focus on resume and job skill questions and delay prepping for behavioral, case, or other interview questions until after the phone interview.

c. If you are in a time crunch or concerned you may forget something, put this information in large font on note cards or paper and paste them on a wall in your house. During the interview, if you get stumped, you can read this information. You are pasting the notes on the walls so you don’t make noise rustling through a bunch of papers. This will help ensure you do not give away the fact that you are reading from a sheet.

3. Be ready to state a few basic facts about the company and your interest in the position.

Again, they are looking for high level answers here, so you do not have to be too specific. Be direct in your answers and give enough information to show them that 1) you have some knowledge about the company, 2) you know how this position fits into your career plan, and 3) you are interested in the position.

4. Be positive and upbeat throughout the phone interview.

a. Make an extra effort to be warm and friendly during the interview, and also make it clear you want the position.

b. Your goal is to try to make friends with this contact. Your success in this effort may make the difference in you getting the position later and can only help you if you make a good impression.

5. Provide any requests for additional information immediately.

If they ask for transcripts, references, writing samples, etc., be sure to try to get these sent in as soon as possible. If you foresee a delay, make the contact aware of this from the start.

6. Write down the name of the interviewer and their contact information.

If they schedule you for another interview, be sure to get the names of those interviewers and their contact information.

The initial phone interview should run very smoothly if you follow these phone interview tips. Just remember that this is only one stage in the process and as soon as the initial phone interview is done, start preparing for the next phone interview by looking into behavioral questions and case interview questions.

Mark McCormick is a former HR staffing member and veteran of many interviews as both an interviewer and a job seeker. To find out more interview tips and techniques, click here: http://www.interviewquestionsandanswers.org/Job-Interview-Tips.html