Phone Interview Questions and Answers Examples - How to Prepare for Phone Interviews

Hey everyone, this is self made Millennial. I'm Madeline Mann and in this video I am going to spill all the juicy ways to absolutely crush a phone interview. I work in hr so I'll tell you how we are scoring your interview, what we are looking for, how to prepare for it, how to impress the interviewer, and what to do after the interview. You will have a black belt in phone interviews by the end of this. I tell it like it is for all of your career and job search advice. So make sure you subscribe to this channel and hit the bell to get a new video every Thursday. These methods have helped my students pass phone interviews at companies like Google, Apple, Sony, Amazon, Netflix. So these tips will get you there and stay to the end because I tell you my number one tip for maximizing your salary negotiation power when you when the conversation turns to money. Here are some rapid fire first tips to start us off and then I'm going to walk you through my exact script. First, phone interviews are often a half an hour or less. You need to be concise. Every answer you give should take a minute or less. Yes, if they don't get through all of their questions during that call, that increases the likelihood that you will be rejected. I have a video on how to not ramble in an interview and so I will link that in the description. Second, have notes out. Here are the notes I have out and you know, take notes on this part. I have notes on my elevator pitch slash tell me about yourself answer. I have the verbiage of why I left my last role, the verbiage of what salary I want. I have notes on the company, why I'm interested in it, and then one to three accomplishments that I think that they would be impressed by based off of the job description. All of these things are so easy to choke on when you're actually asked about it. So why not have the answers right in front of you? Of course. Third, then take copious notes throughout the call. Come on. They are going to give you all of the answers of what they're looking for in this role. Take that language that they say. Parrot it back to them in future interviews about yourself. Focus on those things. You are going to forget it if you don't take these notes. So don't be reckless and fritter this opportunity away. Take them notes. Don't be a fritter critter. Fourth, always ask questions. If they ask you, do you have any questions for us? You got to if you need help with this part, I will link a video that gives you five questions to ask in a phone interview. But I'll actually also give you one here that I didn't mention in that video, which is gold. If I sense that the role has been open for a while, or they tell me that it has, I'll ask something like, how far are you into the search for this role? Has it been a few weeks, months? Sometimes they'll say something like, it's been a few months. It's tough to find the right person. And I'll ask what seems to be missing from a lot of the candidates you're speaking to, and then they spill the beans on what the hiring manager is most hung up on. Now you know what to emphasize. Or also, if it's something that's a weakness of yours, you can then strategize on how to address that area and overcome it. And you can hire a career coach like me or someone. Someone else and will make sure that you dominate it. Asking that one question has gotten me so far in interviews, it's crazy. Okay, so next you need to understand what the company wants out of the call. So I'm going to walk you through the exact questions I ask on a phone interview and explain why each one is asked so that you can give the best answer. Sure, other companies may ask different questions. This isn't pulled out of the holy bible of recruiting that all companies must follow this, but this is a very common format. So listen up, pup. I start the call with some, you know, lame pleasantries like, how's your Tuesday going? You know the drill. I'll then tell them the format of the call. And the first thing I'll start with is telling them about the company and the opportunity. And I will ask questions like, are you familiar with what our company does? Are you familiar with this technology and how it works? Now, this is not to put someone on blast, but to sincerely understand how how deep I should go in my explanation for this, though it is impressive if you know things about the company. Literally saying things like, yes, I downloaded the app. Yes, I was on your website last night. Yes, I saw this news article of the new product that just launched. You will instantly put yourself in an advanced bracket higher than all of the other candidates who didn't do that research. So respond briefly showing that you looked into the company and also show a bit of passion saying, it sounds really interesting. Then you can also say, but I'd really love to hear more about the company and the role from your perspective. It is always helpful to hear how companies characterize themselves okay, so next most people would ask you tell me about yourself or walk me through your resume. I never ask that because I've studied your resume, your cover letter, your LinkedIn hardcore by this point. Mm. But other people will hop on the phone and haven't studied your resume quite so closely, so they need your help to answer this question. I have a free worksheet download on how to answer the question tell me about yourself concisely and effectively. I will link that in the description and in the comments. Because the kiss of death is if you spend more than two minutes answering this question, it should be quick. Next I ask what do you want in your next role? This is to understand if the current role is compatible with what they want and to know if I have to close this candidate at the end of the process. We really want them as our person. I'll use this information to get them excited about signing on with us. I will reference these notes and emphasize those things since I know that those are important to them. You all have to remember that this interview process is a two way street. We are trying to sell you while you are trying to sell us. So for this, be honest and specific. Then of course, nine times out of ten you will be asked why did you leave your current job? Why do you want to leave your current job? Or why did you leave your last job? This is an important question to understand, to know in a pure form what you really want and also what situations are incompatible with you or drive you away. I have a video that gives you eight scripts of how to respond to this question. You definitely need to hit that video up because like I said, someone's going to ask you this. Then next I ask what makes you interested in this role and company Passion and interest y'. All. It's so important. Most companies will look for this in their first call, so companies want people who want them. Also, we want to make sure that your priorities line up with what we want for the role as well. Emphasize things you like about the company, product, culture, responsibilities, but don't talk about your interest in the salary, benefits, commute. That kind of stuff is so generic and are such extrinsic motivators. You should also expect to answer questions like can you commute five days a week to our location? Are you legally able to work in this country? When is the soonest you'd be able to start for those questions, Answer directly. Then you will likely get the salary question. I usually phrase it like do you have any compensation requirements? Other people will ask it more bluntly like how much do you make? Or what's your targeted salary? This is a tricky question that you must prepare your answer for. I will link a full video of how to respond to this question. You've got to check that out, but I will give you a quick sneak preview and that is do not give them a number if you can help it. Say you're looking for an opportunity that is the best fit. The longer you wait to say what salary you need, the more negotiation power you have. You'll get all the really crucial tips in that video though, so check it out. Finally, I'll ask pointed questions about the need to have skills on the job description. This is to ensure that anyone who moves on to the video or on site interviews meets the core qualifications of of the role. Pay attention to what they choose to ask you about, such as a classic question for interviewing a product manager would be to ask them what's one of your favorite products right now? And then ask them to critique the user experience and what they would change about it. Critical thinking is such a crucial part of being a product manager that if they can't give you a well thought out answer to that question, then they will very likely not move on to the next round. The best way to prepare for this section is to look up questions that are often asked to your profession and to study the job description and be prepared to tell stories of when you completed the tasks listed and then reference those stories when it comes up in this section. So when they ask you how would you handle an angry customer? Instead of giving them some hypothetical answer, tell them a story of how you calm down an angry customer in real life. Trust me, they love it when you do this. It's one of my secrets of getting my students lots of sweet offers. I will link a video on how you can do this. How you can build your own story toolbox and do this for every interview. Blow them away. I will link that in the description. Then after the interview, take your phone, spike it down on the ground like you just scored a touchdown, go out and grab some ice cream because I am so proud of you that you brought your best self to the game. Okay, but yeah, then come back to your computer and within 24 hours make sure you send a freaking thank you email to that interviewer. Why? Because remember what I said, Companies want people who want them. They will like you more and perceive you as being more interested and passionate. If you send a thank you email, I will link a video of how to write a killer thank you email in the description and in the comments. Also, make sure you follow up every five business days to hear about next steps. Persistence gets jobs. Do this. I will link a free download in the description and in the comments of follow up email templates for you to send send to the company. I'm already written them for you. Send them their way. You're getting two freebie downloads in this video. What a treat. Make sure you like this video and subscribe to this channel. Thanks so much everyone. Wi Fi High five.