Hello. My name is Richard McMunn from the interview training company PassMyInterview.com,
and in this tutorial, I'm going to teach you how to prepare for a phone interview. So,
it does not matter which organization or company you have a phone interview with, I promise
you, if you watch and study this tutorial from beginning through to the end, you will
pass your phone interview. I can guarantee that. Before I do that, a very warm welcome
to this phone interview training tutorial. My name is Richard McMunn. That's me there
in the center. I've been helping people for about 20 years now to pass their interviews.
I do that predominantly by giving you top scoring answers to the likely interview questions
and also some brilliant tips to make sure you are the standout candidate. Now, please
do make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the channel by clicking the red button below the video,
and then you're not going to miss out on any of the weekly interview training videos I'm
uploading. I would also very much appreciate your support if you gave the video a LIKE
(Thanks!), as that was motivates me to create more content for you. Thank you very much.
I do appreciate that. So, we're going to cover three things during this phone interview tutorial.
The first thing is, I'm going to teach you how to prepare for a phone interview. I'm
also going to give you some rock-solid phone interview tips, and I'm also going to give
you some phone interview questions and high-scoring answers that you can download and use during
your phone interview. So let's get into that! How to prepare for a phone interview. What
I want to do, first of all, is I want to think about what a phone interview is used for.
Because, if we have an understanding of why an employer or a hiring manager chooses to
use a telephone interview, then we have a better chance of passing. A phone interview
is a great way for the hiring manager or recruiting manager to essentially sift through those
people they do not want to invite along to a face-to-face interview. As you and I know,
a face-to-face interview takes up a lot of time, it takes up a lot of energy and also
resources. However, if I was to speak to you on the phone, I could very quickly get a feel
or not, whether I want to invite you along to the interview. So it's a great way for
them to sift through those people they don't want to invite to the face-to-face job interview.
But, what is important, is you have to treat the phone interview as seriously as a normal
interview. And look at it this way, do all of your preparation for the phone interview,
and you will have also done a lot of preparation already for a face-to-face interview when
you get invited along for that particular thing. So, I want you to divide your phone
interview preparation up into the following three key areas. I'm going to do that during
this tutorial. Phone interview preparation area #1 is JOB ROLE RESEARCH. Now, this literally
takes a couple of minutes. But what we need to do, is have a look at the job advert and
have a look at the person specification for the job. And these documents basically outline
what the employer is looking for from the ideal candidate. So, the thinking here is
if we know what they're looking for, we can give it to them during our answers to the
phone interview questions. We also need to look at the essential criteria for the role.
I'll give you a live example in a second of what I mean by that. And then we need to think
of the skills and qualities needed to carry out the job competently. And as I say, all
of this literally takes a few minutes, and I'm going to walk you through what I recommend
you do. Then there's phone interview preparation number two, which is COMPANY RESEARCH. Again,
this literally takes a couple of minutes because they're going to ask you: Why do you want
to work for our company? And you have a good reason. You have to have a good reason for
it. And also, they might say to you: What do you know about our company? And there's
a quick-win with this! I'll tell you exactly what to do and where to go to find out the
right and correct information about their particular company so you can answer those
questions. And then finally, phone interview preparation number three is getting ready
your ANSWERS TO THE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS. I'm actually going to give you the phone interview
questions and sample answers to help you prepare fully. Now, before we work through each of
those three phone interview preparation areas, let me give you five important phone interview
tips. And please take a note of these. So phone interview TIP NUMBER ONE. Make sure
you know the exact time and date of the call and be fully ready for the phone interview
at least five minutes prior to the time it's going to start. What you don't want to do
is be rushing round and thinking, oh, no, I haven't got a reception on my phone. You
know, there’s people in the office or people in the room, and it's too noisy! Make sure
you think in advance. Make sure you know the exact time of day, because you only get one
chance. If you miss that phone call, then that's it! It's all over. Phone interview
TIP NUMBER TWO, if you are using a mobile for the phone interview, make sure you are
in a strong reception area. You need to think ahead. This is the location where I'm going
to take the call and have a look on your phone to make sure you are in a strong reception
area. Because, again, if you say… “Oh, I'm sorry, I missed the call, there was no
reception!” Well, that shows a lack of preplanning. Phone interview TIP NUMBER THREE. Be prepared
for the phone interview call to come from an unknown number. So, I'm not sure if you're
the same as me, but if I get a call from an unknown number, I never answer it. However,
I can pretty much guarantee that the call will come from an unknown number, because
they don't want people to ring them back. Make sure you answer it if it's at the same
time or round about the same time that your phone interview is scheduled to take place.
Phone interview TIP NUMBER FOUR. Make sure you won't be disturbed for the duration of
the phone interview, and there’s zero background noise. So, how long does a phone interview
last? Well, of course, it depends on your answers to the phone interview questions.
However, I believe it will last for between 15 and 30 minutes duration. You need to allocate
that amount of time and make sure you are not going to be disturbed by anybody else.
Phone interview TIP NUMBER FIVE. Don't have the phone on loudspeaker for the phone interview
call. A lot of people do this. They have their phones on loudspeaker when talking to people.
But, if you are on the end of that, it sounds like you're in a tunnel. So make sure you
have it off and you have the phone close to your ear when you are talking. And that will
be better for you because you don't want to be saying to the interviewer: “Oh, sorry,
can you repeat that? I couldn't hear the question.” So, have the phone close to you and to your
ear. Now, those are very basic tips, but they are really, really important. Phone interview
TIP NUMBER SIX. Have a cheat sheet with bullet points of what you want to talk about during
the phone interview. A cheat sheet is essentially you working through this phone interview training
tutorial and taking notes as you go along and writing down the answers that I give you
to the interview questions. You can then have that sheet of paper in front of you. Now,
of course, you don't want to be reading from a sheet of paper because you don't want to
sound rigid, because the interviewer will hear that. But you can have ‘prompts’.
When they say to you: Why do you want to work for our company?” You can have bullet point
prompts of what you want to say. That is a really good tip! Let's now start working through
all three phone interview preparation areas. I've got more tips to give you, and I've also
got to work through those phone interview questions and answers! So make sure you follow
all of this. Phone interview preparation area number one. This is really, really important.
This is JOB ROLE RESEARCH. And don't forget, I mentioned about looking at the job advert,
the person specification, taking a look at the essential criteria for the job and also
the skills and qualities needed. So, this will help you to pass. Let's take a look at
an example person specification. So this is a job for an admin role. And I just want to
use this to explain what I want you to do quickly, to help you pass your phone interview.
If you look there, we have the ESSENTIAL SKILLS required and it says that we need to have
excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Now, if, say, is that when they say
to you, what skills and qualities do you possess? Well, you can say: “I have strong communication
skills and I have the ability to get on with everyone, both customers and clients.” Because
that is essentially what good interpersonal skills is. But you can also then be prepared
for an interview question around that essential criteria, which will probably be: “Describe
a time when you communicated an important message to a group of people?” So, once
you follow this process, you are fully prepared for your phone interview, and not just a phone
interview, but any face-to-face interview as well, because the essential criteria will
stay the same for both phone interview and face-to-face interview. Let me give you another
example. It says there that one of the essential criteria is to have strong organizational
skills. So, again, when I say to you, what skills and qualities do you have? “I am
a solid organizer who can plan and prioritize all work in a timely manner.” And the interview
question for that essential criteria element will be: Describe a time when you demonstrated
solid organizational work skills? So, I would then work through the entire document and
look for those. So when they say to me: What skills and experience do you have suitable
for this role? I will do my research based on all of these ESSENTIAL criteria. And this
is what I would say in response to that phone interview question: “I am a solid communicator
who has exceptional organization skills, the ability to be left alone to plan and prioritize
all tasks whilst working under pressure. I particularly enjoy supporting the senior management
team to complete tough projects and tasks, and can be left alone to work on my own initiative.
I prefer to work as part of a team and my personal life means I have the flexibility
to be available as and when needed to carry out all duties as required.” And you will
see that I have underlined all of the essential criteria and I have simply put it in my response,
and that is the best way to pass your phone interview! That took me about five minutes.
It's a very quick process, but once you learn that, you can pass any interview with ease.
So, that response is derived solely from the ESSENTIAL CRITERIA of the job description
and person specification. Let's have a look at now phone interview preparation area number
two, which is COMPANY RESEARCH. They're going to want to know why you want to work for their
company and also what you know about their company. When they ask you the question: Why
do you want to work for our company? This is the answer that I use every single time
for any job. “I’d like to work for your company for three reasons. Firstly, you have
a strong reputation in the industry, so I know I’ll be able to grow and develop as
a person professionally. Secondly, the skills and qualities I have are a match for both
this role and the standards you expect from your employees. Finally, I noticed during
my research you have ambitious and exciting plans for the future and I would very much
like to be a part of those.” That's a great response to use for the phone interview question…
Why do you want to work for our company? You know, you could write that down and read that
off on your CHEAT SHEET during your phone interview. Then they're going to want to know
about what you know about their company. So, my advice is to simply go on their website
and have a look at their LATEST NEWS SECTION and write down on your cheat sheet two or
three points of interest about their company. What products and services do they have? How
long have they been operating? What's their mission statement? What is their USP, their
Unique Selling Point? And also, on the latest news section, there should be something of
significance that has happened within the company. They may have won awards, or they
may have featured in a news article, or something like that. Write down some things when they
say, ‘what do you know about our company’ that you can tell them. Before we go through
preparation number three area, which is those all-important phone interview questions and
high scoring answers, let me give you a couple of more tips to pass your phone interview.
So, the next tip is, and this is a big one, smile whilst talking throughout the phone
interview, and your tone will then be positive! I'm smiling right now whilst I'm talking.
And you can probably hear a change in the tone of my voice? So remember, write down
on your cheat sheet at the top… “DON'T FORGET TO SMILE” because you will then exude
a positive communication aspect when you're talking to them, and they will pick up on
that smile whilst you’re talking throughout the phone interview. Put that on the top of
your cheat sheet for an interview! Tip number eight. Send a thank you email at the end of
the phone interview. So, once the phone interview is finished, simply send this email to the
person who conducted the phone interview. Dear sir/madam, RE: Phone interview. I would
just like to say thank you for the opportunity to undertake the phone interview today. I
very much enjoyed discussing the role and I sincerely hope I get the opportunity to
attend a face-to-face interview. Kind regards, Richard McMunn. Obviously, you'd put your
own name there and you would change ‘Dear sir’ or ‘Dear madam’ to their gender,
whoever it was at the interview. But just send that. That’s very positive and they
will think of you in a positive light. If you send that to me, I would think: “Brilliant.
Let us get them along to a face-to-face interview. I like this person! They are positive and
they are caring and they are genuine.” Phone interview preparation area number three. These
answers to the phone interview questions. Very important. I'm going to tell you the
phone interview questions that I recommend you prepare for. Here we go. Question number
1. Tell me about yourself? That's going to be the first phone interview question. So
here's what I would say. “I am a dependable, conscientious and professional team worker
who takes great pride in the work I carry out for my employer. Outside of work, I have
a stable and happy family life, which means when I am at work, I can concentrate 100%
on my duties. The experience I have gained in life so far are a good match for the essential
criteria of this job, and if I am successful, I feel strongly you will be impressed with
my work ethics, integrity and values.” That's a great answer that can be used for any phone
interview! Next question: What are your strengths? Guaranteed to come up! This is quite easy
to answer. And remember, if you have read the job description and the person specification
for your role, you would be able to list those strengths. So I would say something like:
“I have 7 core strengths that, I feel, make me the ideal candidate for this position.
I am a strong team worker, a great communicator, excellent at customer service, and also someone
who can plan and prioritize tasks accordingly to ensure I help my employer move forward
positively. I am also someone who embraces change positively, I am flexible in my role
and available to work additional hours when needed, and also someone who continually looks
to improve and develop.” What I like about this, is I've given seven core strengths,
because then they're going to say to you… “What's your biggest weakness?” What we
don't want to do is give them, during the phone interview, a weakness that is damaging
to our chances of success. So you remember when I put out that person specification earlier
on, and it said in there that you had to be a good communicator and possess strong interpersonal
skills? Well, if you said: “I'm not really comfortable around lots of people, I prefer
to work on my own” as your weakness, you're not going to get the job, because you are
basically giving a weakness which is one of the essential criteria! So don't give a weakness
that is one of the essential criteria. Here's my answer to this question. “My biggest
weakness is that I can be an impatient person at times. This is especially the case when
I am waiting for an external company or supplier to come back to me with an answer and my own
task is dependent on their response. However, although it is a weakness, one of my strengths
is that I am always seeking to improve and I have been working on my patience levels
recently with a view to developing personally and professionally.” So, you could say that's
a strength, that if you are impatient at work and you want people to come back to you so
you can get your job finished. And you're a complete a finisher, somebody who gets things
done on time and to the right standard. That's a clever answer to that phone interview question,
what’s your biggest weakness. Why have you applied for this job? That's another question.
Another one of a phone interview question is, where do you see yourself in five years’
time? And the only real answer to that is with them. And I would say that, well, in
five years’ time, I would expect to be fully competent in the role, respected by my work
colleagues, and I would also have even taken on additional duties and help you train new
people who come into the organization in a similar role. That's what I would say to that
question: Where do you see yourself in five years’ time? Why do you want to leave your
current job? Never, ever criticize your employer or your work colleagues! Don't say: “I want
to leave my job because my boss doesn't understand me.” Or, “I don't get on with my work
colleagues.” Or, “Things are really boring!” The best thing to say is: “I've been with
my employer for a little time now. I’ve really enjoyed it. I've achieved some amazing
things. They've been very supportive of me. But I want a job where my skills and qualities
are really put to the test and I'm able to develop as a person. I'd also like to work
for a company that has exciting plans for the future, like yours.” That's a great
answer. It's safe, as well, and you are not being negative or critical of your previous
employee, which you should never do. What makes you the standout candidate? And… What
is the best example of customer service you have come across? When have you worked as
part of a team? So, you have to give them specific examples of when you've worked as
part of a team. When did you solve a difficult problem? How would your work colleagues describe
you? Have you ever held a position that wasn't right for you? If you'd like answers to those
and others, and please just wait so I can show you my website, you want to download
my full set of phone interview questions and answers. A link has appeared, right there,
in the top right-hand corner of the page. It will take you through to this page, here.
I've got more phone interview questions. Therefore, you just click that link and then you can
download them by clicking that button there. And for a small fee, you can download all
of my answers. I hope you've enjoyed that! If you’ve got questions, put them in the
comments section below. Thank you very, very much for watching. And I wish you all the
best for passing your phone interview. Don’t forget, SUBSCRIBE and hit the LIKE button.
Thank you for your support. Have a brilliant day.