How to Impress a Recruiter in a Phone Interview

How to Impress a Recruiter in a Phone Interview

How to Impress a Recruiter in a Phone Interview

How to Impress a Recruiter in a Phone Interview

Armed with these three tips, you are sure to make a great first impression and impress the recruiter in your phone interview so you move on in the process.

Last Updated: February 20, 20242.3 min readCategories: IT Staff Augmentation
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How to Impress a Recruiter in a Phone Interview

Phone interviews have become the standard first step in the interview process for most position openings. Making a great first impression in your phone interview with the recruiter is critical to moving on in the interview process. Impressing a recruiter starts and ends with being prepared. While preparing for a phone interview can be a bit challenging, these three tips should get your ready to impress.

First, as convenient as it is to have a phone interview, life sometimes gets in the way. The hurdle is to ensure you are not disrupted so you can talk freely. You’ll want to pick a place where you won’t have issues like the dog barking at the delivery truck, have someone walk in on you in the conference room, or have to deal with bad acoustics and cell reception issues in places like stairwells. You don’t want to start off your interview with an increased blood pressure event in the first minute of the call. To control your environment as much as possible, if the recruiter is amenable I would encourage you to contact them at a designated time and have your ideal location staked out and tested prior to that time. Be as prompt as possible on calling the recruiter and be prepared to stay put for 5-10 minutes in case you catch the dreaded voice mail.

The second tip is to have your resume handy as typically a recruiter will ask questions based on your resume. If you have been at many places, you may need a bit of a timetable hint to jog your memory. Be sure to assist the recruiter if you are jumping around on the resume. When you elaborate on a project or specific task that is listed on the resume make ensure you mention the project or date as listed for their reference. Recruiters like to get you talking and sometimes they need a clue as to where you did this project or task, so a date reference and even a page reference ensures you and the recruiter are on the same page.

The third and last tip is to prepare for the phone interview the same as you would a formal in-person interview. Review the job posting and your resume completely and be prepared to explain skills that are required which you may not have or not listed on your resume. Remember, the phone interview is likely the gateway to the formal interview so be prepared to demonstrate with specifics why you are the best candidate for the position.

Armed with these three tips, you are sure to make a great first impression and impress the recruiter in your phone interview so you are selected to move on in the interview process.

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