While you can have the luxury of having notes in front of you during a phone interview,
avoid the temptation of reading any of them in response to a question. Have your resume
in front of you and organize notes about key questions and aspects of the company in index
cards so you can easily put your hands on them. Outlines of responses to frequently asked
interview questions can serve as loose scripts for your responses. Your goal is brief memory
prompts, not full-blown responses to be read. Have a writing utensil and paper handy for taking notes.
Don’t feel you need to fill lulls in the conversation. If the interviewer doesn’t respond at the
end of your answer, ask a question to deflect the conversation back to him or her.
Since the goal of phone interviews is often to screen out candidates, expect the unexpected.
You might be asked questions that throw you for a loop. Don’t let them rattle you, and don’t feel
you must blurt out an immediate response. Take a moment to think and then respond to the
best of your ability.
Phone interviews require thank-you notes just as face-to-face sessions do.
See this section.
Traditional interview
The traditional job interview uses broad-based questions such as,
"why do you want to work for this company," and "tell me about your strengths and weaknesses."
Interviewing success of failure are more often based on the ability of the job-seeker to communicate
than on the truthfulness or content of their answers. Employers are looking for the answer
to three questions: does the job-seeker have the skills and abilities to perform the job;
does the job-seeker possess the enthusiasm and work ethic that the employer expects;
and will the job-seeker be a team player and fit into the organization.
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