It seems intuitive to assume that the rules to nail a phone interview are the same as those to nail a face-to-face interview. But sometimes what seems intuitive may not be accurate. A phone interview poses challenges of its own. If you are the kind that looks for cues from facial expressions to modulate your conversation, you are likely to be in a soup.

The reverse holds true too. If you are someone who relies to some extent on body language to express yourself, how do you achieve that during a phone interview?

Below we have listed a few essential tips to help you sail more smoothly through your phone interview. You might think this to be over-preparation, but if you really need to clear the interview and there is time leading up to it, then over-preparing is definitely not going to harm your chances. As Abraham Lincold had put it, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

Tips for Phone Interviews

• Give continuous auditory cues to your interviewer. It is considered good practice to lean forward during a face-to-face interview, nod your head approvingly and encourage your interviewer. Similarly in a phone interview, give regular cues with positive words to setup a good rapport with the interviewer.
• Give the interviewer enough time to finish her thoughts. Do not interrupt when she’s speaking, and if you happened to do so, then apologise and ask her to go on and stay silent. Similarly when you are speaking, make sure you are able to complete your thoughts without being interrupted. If you are interrupted, it could be because the interviewer was not sure if you finished your thoughts; it would help to be a little aggressive at that point and speak up.
• Keep a hard copy of your resume before the interview begins. Make a note of important points you would like to discuss during the interview. Make sure you have a pen during the interview and keep crossing those points off after discussing them to avoid redundancy.
• Make sure you have ready access to the internet during the interview. It is important to keep your focus on the interview but if you have the  largest encyclopaedia of information with you, it’s not a bad idea to make use of it.
• Make sure you have enough battery life. The interviewer will not see it favourably, if you run out of battery mid-interview.
• Disable features that are likely to drain your battery or cause distractions during the interview. Disable your call waiting service to avoid being distracted should someone try to call you during the interview. Many phones notify you about incoming messages; make sure you have disabled those features too. It is not a bad idea to completely disable internet access to your phone during the phone interview.
• If you have a landline (fixed-line) phone then use that for the phone interview. Such phones usually provide better reception and sound quality than mobile phones.
• Record your phone interviews. That way you can listen to them later, analyse what could have gone better and learn from your mistakes. You can use web based services like Recordator for this purpose.