What should you do when you have a phone interview with a company? Knowing the company inside and out are an excellent way to prepare. However, if you do not have time for a full preparation, then you need to "cram for the exam".
This is a quick and dirty list of things that I think are important before you take that phone call:
1. Know the company's brands. If they have multiple divisions or departments, know a little bit about that part of the company. For example, if you had an interview with Kimberly-Clark, it would be good to know that they do more than just consumer brands. They also have a health care department that produces products to aid digestion, surgical procedures and pain management. Kimberly-Clark also has a professional department that supplies safety eyewear and gloves to commercial industries.
2. Know the company's CEO, market cap and approximate income for last year. A good way to check this is to use google or Yahoo finance. While you are checking out that information, you may also want to pick up a "gotcha" fact. This is a cute thing such as the company founding year.
3. Understand what position you are applying for. Read the job description again. Try to think about what questions that they may ask you in advance about that job. These may be behavioral questions or they may be skill questions. It sometimes helps to write the anticipated question and answers ahead of time. Also, prepare at least one question ready to ask your interviewer about the job.
4. Check your schedule. It's wonderful to be offered an interview opportunity until you realize you already have something else scheduled. You should have a planner or calender with you when you set up the appointment.
5. On the morning of the phone interview, dress the part. It doesn't matter if they can't see you. If you can wear a suit, wear a suit! The idea is to build confidence before going into the interview. Pretend that this interview is the same as if you were in person.
6. Have a glass of water ready. You don't want your voice to become dry and raspy in the middle of the interview.
Phone interviews can be a little stressful, but with preparation you can do better.
Good Luck! -------Sincerely, Trevor Stasik.
Phone+Interview, Kimberly-Clark, Career Development
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