How To Pass Telephone Interviews

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McMunn and for the duration of this training module
I'm going to teach you how to pass a telephone interview
now it's important that before i begin the get yourself a pen and a piece of
paper and taken out of the important hints and tips that i'm going to provide
you for the duration of this module you'll find that there's a number of
really really crucial tips that will help you to pass your telephone
interview
obviously listed them down during that this module whilst you're watching it
but I would also encourage you to take notes because that's how we learn if you
write things down then they're more likely to stick with you throughout the
duration of the program and once it's finished you can take away the tips that
I provide you with and put them into practice
ok a little bit about me and there's me on the right hand side of the screen so
you get an idea of who's talking to you
my name's Richard McMann i am the UK's most successful career expert of helped
hundreds and hundreds of people to gain employment in many different careers and
you'll find my advice is invaluable in helping you to successfully part your
telephone interview
just a little bit about my background I served four years in the Royal Navy
many years ago I then spent 17 years in the fire service enjoying that time I
was heavily involved in recruitment and training so I basically trained people
have to get into the fire service and also served as a training center
instructor for many years helping people to pass the fire service recruitment
course but also teaching people in various different areas on how to become
qualified in different areas so I've got lots of experience in recruitment and
training after 17 years i left the fire service and i started the company called
how to become limited which is where I'm operating from right now but basically
the company how to become . card UK helps people to get into specific
careers and that's what I'm trying to help you to do today
i recently completed a deployment management studies on the published
careers God and software and I've created over
a hundred and fifty different books and products and you'll find many of those
on amazon in water stones and also on the website how to become . Cody UK as a
set of uk's leading careers Expo I don't say that lightly
the reason why I am I state that is because if you go to my website you'll
see that I've got hundreds of testimonials of people have used my
products and found a career afterwards which is fantastic
so they just use my information my guidance I run weekend training courses
so you might want to come on one of my training courses me personally and you
know i'll teach you how to get a career I've passed myself over ninety-five
percent of interviews that I've attended and on
I've done that not because I'm specially in any way but because I follow a sort
of like set area of preparation and i always use it time and time again for
example before i go to an interview I always make sure that i carry out a
number of mock interview so I basically predict the questions that i'm going to
get asked and then I sit down to get somebody to follow those questions at me
and I respond to them and that basically increases my confidence now in relation
to a telephone interview is a little bit different because you haven't got you
should have as much nerves as what you would do if he was going to a
face-to-face interview but having said that they can be still sometimes quite
stressful and therefore you need to prepare effectively
ok so module content what am I going to teach you and talk to you about our
first of all going to look at what a telephone interview is so you can get an
understanding of what the person assessing you is looking for
and that brings me on to the next thing is what are they looking for if we know
one interview is we can solve like basically dissect and explain what the
interviewer is looking for on the telephone
now it might be a member of the organization that you're applying for
who is interviewing you
or sometimes larger companies will outsource a telephone interview to sort
of a recruitment agency
it doesn't matter who's carrying out the telephone to be what is important is how
you come across and obviously how you respond to the questions
so we'll also take a look at how you can prepare for the telephone interview and
i will also provide you with a number of sample questions and tips on how to
answer them
ok let's get straight into it now
why do you think companies have a telephone interview well it can be for a
number of reasons and i would say if I'm really honest one of the main reasons
and organization will have a telephone interview is because they don't want to
meet hundreds or scores of applicants face to face if they do that then it can
be extremely time consuming and expensive a telephone interview can lost
to say five minutes sometimes they will go on to maybe 20 or 30 minutes but they
don't have to meet someone they can put someone in the room so right i want you
to ring up these people put them through an interview asked a number of questions
and if you think they are suitable
then they can come along to the next stage so in harsh terms is basically a
sifting process
ok and because it's a sifting process sometimes some candidates don't really
take it that seriously obviously you are going to take it seriously and you need
to prepare for a telephone interview i would say as seriously as you would do
for a face-to-face interview you know especially nowadays there are many
hundreds of applicants for for many different jobs and the competition is
fierce therefore you need to be on the ball you need to prepare fully for it
which I'm sure you're going to do so they basically have a telephone
interview as a sifting process but it can be when a candidate has to travel
such a long way and I don't want to put the candidates for all that hassle of
traveling that distance when there are a large number of candidates and that's
basically an upward or another phrase for a sifting process to whittle down
the candidates to those who are suitable to go through the process I mean off
personally interviewed hundreds of people for different jobs in the past
and sometimes I have thought to myself what are you doing here it would have
been better for that person to have a telephone interview because they clearly
didn't have the skills or the attributes or the qualifications to carry out the
role now an application form is a great way of assessing people but you don't
have actually have any interaction and therefore as an accessory is very
difficult to ascertain whether that person is suitable
so that's why another reason people have telephone interviews so an example is
when screening by CV is difficult when for example personality is more
important than experience or qualifications and that can be
in different types of roles such as customer service roles or customer
service and assistance obviously a good personality is important especially in
sales as well if you're required to you know to be a sales representative
then you need to be confident person a positive person and something is good
with dealing with people i'm very good at dealing with people but I've never
been in a sales role and to be honest i don't think i'd like to be because i
think you know you need to be quite a full-on person you need to be extremely
extremely confident so I think that kind of role for me wouldn't be suited are
more suited to like a managerial rolled or a training role so sometimes
screening by cv can be difficult when a large part of the job will involve
talking to people on the telephone and and many jobs are like that nowadays
like those in customer service centers those kind of roles will definitely have
a telephone interview
so it's not just about you responding to the questions but it's about how you
come across
hopefully you will you'll feel that I'm talking to you in a concise and succinct
manner
I'm not waffling and you can hear me I'm clear to speak to and i'm generally
quite positive and obviously if I was talking to you in a monitor on way and
not very exciting
then you wouldn't feel that you were getting value from the in terms of a
teacher
try and put yourself in the shoes of the person who's interviewing you
you obviously want them to be positive and the interviewer wants you to be
positive so therefore you need to be as positive as possible on the telephone
and i'll come on to that a little while later so that's the reasons why
organizations will have a telephone interview
so what is a telephone interview and you may think well everybody knows what a
telephone interview is
yes that could be the case but let's explore it because it will help you to
prepare more effectively
what is basically the first stage of a selection process sometimes it comes
directly after an application form but it's basically the first stage for them
to get a feel of what you were like as a person
it obviously assesses wherever you have basic skills qualities and attributes
will think about those who second basic skills qualities and attributes so how
do you know if you have those were basically a seam relation to the job -
description of the person specification now those two I would write these down
the job description of the person specification are very very important
and they are basically the blueprint to your success
you need to get a copy of them before you actually go for your telephone
interview because they give us a number of key close let's just take a quick
look now at a sample job description
so job specification in person specification for a role so this is for
an office and facilities manager if you look at the primary responsibilities
here it says in relation to our answer incoming calls take and pass an accurate
messages using the most efficient messaging service appropriate
so you could get asked a question during the telephone interview
give us an example of where you've answered incoming calls
how did you take on and pass accurate messages what did you do to make sure
that the information was accurate so you could say well when I was working in a
previous role i was actually answering incoming calls and in order to make sure
that i passed on accurate messages i would write down the information that I
was receiving an hour then very far with the person was speaking to to make sure
it was accurate source basically cross-checking the information that i
had so is another part of primary responsibilities to greet and welcome
visitors
if that was in the job description I would be preparing the response for that
question that would go can you give an example of where you've got to greet and
welcome people
how did you make them feel comfortable what did you say to them and they might
even say to give us an example of what you would say to me if I was coming into
your shop or coming into your Center and i would say something like nice to meet
you my name is Richard just let you know you can be more than welcome to stay
here please make yourself at home
can I take your coat would you like a drink while you wait to be seated to
something like that again it will see their assist the team with tight
deadlines for example photocopy and preparation collation and binding of
documents again another question that you could get asked can you give an
example of where you've assisted or work in a team environment so the message
which I'm trying to get across to here is that if you get a copy of the job
descript so job description of the person specification
then you are sir
only going to have more of a chance of passing because you can basically
predict the interview questions that you are going to get asked so i would get a
copy of that JD and that person specification and i will get a
highlighter pen
this is what i would do and I would highlight the key areas in the key
requirements and i would think up of sample questions that i could get asked
and prepare for responses to them
ok so basically a telephone interview is a brief assessment of your skills
motivations and knowledge and as I already mentioned they are looking to
hopefully invite you along to the next day but they don't want to waste your
time and they certainly don't want to waste their time because it costs their
money to put you through a selection process you need to be motivated and you
have to write have the right skill set and the knowledge of motivation
so what do you need to know what you need to research in relation to the role
and that can be done by reading the job description and the person specification
you may want to ring up the company before you have your telephone to
interstate and music possible i can come along and speak to a member of staff
there is carrying out a similar role to find out what it's like
so you can take along a notepad and then find out exactly what the role is about
and the skills that are required but you should be able to find that actually on
the person specification and job description
you also need to know a little bit about the company that you are applying to
join one of the company like how they want any more any awards
where do they operate from what is their USP a USP is a unique selling point
so you could say join the telephone interview when they say to you tell us
about our company say well you carry out these services in these functions and
you supply to different companies across the world to operate out of these
different areas so given the areas they operate out of the company has so many
employees of it as 900 employees you could say that the unique selling point
of the company is to provide an excellent communication and customer
service skills to the general community that kind of thing
so know about the company you can do that generally by going on their website
i would also strongly recommend that you have a look for a company's mission and
vision
you should be able to find those on their websites to find out what their
mission and vision is and learn it
so again if they say to tell us about your company except where your mission
is x y&z you know they may have goals and objectives they now have a charter
if you're applying for a customer services roll I would find out what the
customer service charter is and I would learn it off by our mail to recited
during the telephone interview because anything like that that you can come up
with will certainly give you good points and they'll think hey this person is
found out lots about our company
let's get them along to her face-to-face interview or an assessment center
you need to know the requirements of the role is pointless applying for a job if
you don't know what the requirements are because they may say to tell us what the
requirements are
tell us what experiences you have that are relevant to the role
so i've already mentioned there about the person specification think about
your experiences and again that goes back to using your highlighter pen and
highlighting the different areas on the person specification that are relevant
to the role so if you need to be good on the telephone
I think of an example when you have to do that when you've done that in the
past you know if you have to deal with customers then it's likely you might
have to deal with a complaint
how did you deal with the complaint you deal with complaints by listening
carefully to the customer involve the customers much as possible sympathize
with them apologize if the company is actually in the wrong and then set about
your resolution tell them what you are going to do
how you going to resolve the situation for them check with them that they are
happy with your resolution and then follow ups a day or two later to see
that the person is happy with what you've done so always keep them updated
so that's how you would deal with complaints
ok they are bound to say to tell us what you're applying for this role and i'll
come on to that in a little while longer when we look at some sample questions
but that is a very simple question but one that many people fall down on
because they might come out with well it's something that I've always wanted
to do
well that's fine but you know you have a bit more creativity think up of a better
reason why you know you can say that you've been studying different roles and
this job caught my attention
because i have these skills and I am I believe I'm perfectly matched to this
role because I've got the experiences in the past
I'm enthusiastic in this role of dealing with people and I believe that I can
bring along a lot to your company and I can achieve my targets
you know be a bit more passionate about it and just saying oh it's something
that I've always wanted to do
ok what can you offer them so they might say what can you offer is why should we
give you the job as opposed to the next person and in relation to that I'd be
thinking about positive keywords and phrases
so what I'm talking I'll be saying im an enthusiastic person i'm very confident I
am quick to pick up different skills
I always make sure that I keep you know on top of my training I make sure that I
read company policies and always a back that you know abide by the rules
so make sure that you are positive when responding and explain the different
things that you can offer your strength when responding to that that's quite
easy obviously the more difficult one is what are your weaknesses and all give
you tips on how to respond to that later but i would say in relation to your
strength you need to think about the strengths that actually match the person
specification job description
so again with your highlighter pen look at the qualities and skills if that if
one of them is dealing people dealing with people on the telephone you could
say one of my strengths is actually did move people on the telephone and my last
company I was constantly praised during my appraisal for dealing well with
customers and also why you think you are good for the role and you will only know
why you're good for that role
so make sure you carry out plenty of preparation so let's have a look what
are they looking for well they want to see whether you have the right knowledge
you have the right skills
the right attributes the desire and motivation for the role if you do have
all of these then you will be invited to attend the next stage now one important
word there i think is very important during telephone interviews and that is
the word of desire
I have a passion for teaching people I want you to pass your telephone
interview and I mean that i really do genuinely I have a desire for helping
people
when you're talking to the interviewer on the telephone have desire for the
role
ok be passionate about it i know you know it's very difficult to get a job
nowadays but be passionate because the reason why I say that is because desire
and passion are contagious people pick up on them and they feel it and they
feed from it
so if you try to think of a situation when you've been bad enough cash to my
back to when you're at school or maybe college or university and someone is
giving a lecture can you remember somebody who's really rubbish it giving
lectures and the reason might be not because they weren't very good at the
subject because they get enough of this desire or passion for it
you need to be motivated you need to come across in a positive manner and
that accounts for half of the battle to get through the first stage
it's okay I've in all the flash answers to the questions but if you come across
down or depressed or you know feeling sorry for yourself then you're probably
not going to get invited back so concentrate on desire and being
passionate about the role
ok so how do we prepare for our telephone interview interview questions
and responses of I've mentioned before I think it's important to use a job
description person specification to try and find out or try and match the kind
of questions that you could get asked I have always done this in the past when
going to interviews and I've been generally I would say successful with
eighty percent of the questions that i predict yes of course sometimes there
are questions that come out nothing I wasn't expecting that but you know over
eighty percent of them i can predict them and it's easy for you to do the
same
another thing is to actually have a look online and try and find some online chat
forums you may find some there are hundreds chat forums out there you know
that you will be able to find let's say you're going for a job as a bank cashier
you know if you type in bank cashier interview chat forum something might
come up on a major search engine and they will be able to give you the top
two questions that late gotta ask that
that's a way of sort of predicting the questions that you might get asked to
join your telephone interview
ok your cv have your cv to hand because they might say to talk me through your
CV now you don't have to go in depth
but the beauty of a telephone interview you can have documents with you
ok when you go to a face-to-face interview they don't generally allow you
to have those documents that you can read from and a tip there is to be ready
for the interview questions because you can have sample responses already laid
out in front of you you know i would just have bullet points you don't be
reading paris fashion because they'll be able to tell if you are and you don't
want that
and so you need to come across as natural but have your cv to hand
preparing in terms of the time and location if they say we're going to call
you at ten o'clock on thursday morning make sure you are in a suitable location
you don't want to be in the supermarket shopping at Tescos or as de walking down
the aisle number nine with your shopping trolley waiting for someone to ring you
up because you just gonna have lots of distractions and they'll be able to pick
up on that so make sure you are in a quiet location and that might mean you
know if if you've got children at home or something you might want to get
someone to look after him
once you have your telephone interview so think carefully about the time and
the location have a notepad and a pen
I've been ready because they may give you certain information that you need to
take a note of
i would also take a note of the questions that you are asked because you
might get asked them during the face to face interview
now I would have bullet points to remind you of how to respond to the questions
as i mentioned earlier don't have it sort of bullet
the story of Paris Fashion written out in front of you just have bullet points
that you can look at because what you will be doing if you've got it all
written down in front of you you'll be searching for your question
and they'll be able to hear you shuffle in the papers around you don't want that
so just a bullet points of how are you going to respond have notes of the
questions you may wish to ask yourself because they're going to say to at the
end lot of you got any questions you'd like to ask us and it's generally quiet
good practice to ask one or two questions and i will give you a couple
in a second of what you can ask but and don't generally go overboard
so if they say right we got a question and you say to him yes how long would it
be before I find out whatever i'm successful and they say okay be probably
you'll find out tomorrow and they'll say we got another question you keep going
on
you don't have to ask questions to impress them
and that is an important . don't ask sort of technical questions or questions
that try and impress them
they're not that fast they will have made up their mind by that point whether
you're going back so you don't have to ask questions
I've done that before if I say to me if you got any questions i might say no
it's okay i did have some of the beginning but Yvonne said everything
that I need to know and you know I'm really looking forward to come along
hopefully to a face-to-face interview
thank you very much something like that have a copy of the person specification
next to you
ok because this is a quick win if I say tell us about the role
what the skills and qualities required to carry out you've got the information
there in front of you so I think about how you will learn to the phone now I'll
be honest if somebody brings me up on my mobile phone are generally onto and go
high you know when they ring up to interview you this is a little bit
different now
a company might bring you from a number probably that you will recognize it
might be withheld number if it's coming from your mobile but i would certainly
answer the phone in a positive manner and if it was me I would say hello there
a Richard McMunn speaking how can I help you
ok something like that don't just go below you know you need to be quite
positive and start off on the right foot and you might want to actually print off
a sheet of paper that says be positive with a smiley face next to it in big
bold capital letters and stick it on the desk in front of you when you're
carrying out the interview because i'll remind you to stay positive because
remember fifty percent in the battle is being positive and passionate about the
world remember that word desire
we also in a reception area what you don't want and this is I've done it
before and I've been interviewing people on the phone
lay there in a bad reception area and then they lose the bars on the phone or
something and I am presuming hear that you you know you might be using a mobile
phone because most people do it be better to have a landline because then
you haven't got the problem of going out of reception but if you do it on a
mobile
make sure you're in a full reception area the last thing you want is for it
to go dead and so make sure your phone is also charged you don't the battery is
running out
it would be horrendous and also no distractions i mentioned earlier on if
you've got children or something make sure they are looked after you got pets
you don't the dog barking when the postman comes and delivers the mail
they're all just little things but they do go a long way to to making sure that
you are fully prepared
ok some really important tips how to answer the phone as I've already
mentioned if it was me I would say hi there Richard but one speaking how can I
help you
you know you know it's going to be them and they go how I Richard my name is
Brion I'm here to interview blah blah
oh hello Brian nice to meet you so make sure you are really positive be
enthusiastic and positive throughout thing that is really really important
don't waffle either
I know it's difficult sometimes because you are going to be nervous and they
will accept that but trying to be succinct
don't rush in our answer the questions yes but always be positive but don't
waffle and also avoid using jog and some people feel that I need to impress the
interviewer
I can't understand they see now that they don't have to you can impress them
with your responses but don't try and impress them with you know jargon that
you you know about their company in their organization
you know if you're going to say about their USP so you know your USP your
unique selling point is x y&z always be polite and respectful so if it was me
and I was talking to an interviewer are might say our hellos so nice to meet you
you know they are going to come around and say to me no it's okay don't need to
call me so you can call me whatever all mr. Smith or mrs. Smith mrs. Brooks
whatever but just be polite if they invite you to use their first name
then use it ok it's ok but don't over use it and don't become too familiar so
at the end of the interview don't want to be going
also we got planned for this weekend anything nice you know you need to be
serious you need to be formal
but obviously you can use their name if they let you but i would start off by
using the man's mr mrs and using their surname
so use the other person's name regularly for out the conversation but not all the
time you know if they're asking you questions you don't be going
oh well
well mr. brown Pablo you don't be doing that all the time
ok but you can use it so that you remember their name and that's why you
need to have a notepad in front of you so you can write down their name
also in this is very important is used the company name a few times
you know I want to work for X Y Zed limited because of so it shows that you
are really focused on their organization
so they said look at some questions that i would recommend you prepare for
can you please tell me a little bit about yourself and that's generally a
start off question so tell me about you tell me about yourself and if i was
responding to that question
I again would be using the qualities that I've got the irrelevant to the role
so let's say that i am applying for a position as a customer services
assistant
i would say well you know as you know my name is Richard I'm 39 years old
I'm a very positive and enthusiastic person i have a very good educational
background that involves dealing with people are gawking customer services
qualification and nvq in customer service
I'm very passionate about dealing with people i like to keep myself
educated at the moment i'm currently studying for a diploma in management
because i would like to develop myself
i'm also has a very positive person i like to keep myself physically fit
physically active
I'm a stable person i come from a family background I've got a daughter who's 18
or a lot very much
I mean my spare time I spend time down the gym or with my family
so you can see the kind of thing that I'm trying to come up with i'm trying to
paint a picture that magic an educated person I like dealing with people
I'm nice to be around I keep myself fit because that means that if you are fit
you're likely to be not prone to stress or going off sick which can be a problem
for many companies
I'm a family man which means that I'm stable so I'm more likely to stay in the
role so just keep it brief but try and put yourself in a positive manner
why did you apply for this position and I can almost guarantee you will get
asked that many people now and I see it they apply for loads and loads of
different jobs and I call them cereal job applicants
that's not in a horrible way but it's just the fact that they want a job and
they don't really care what it is
so this is why they're asking for this kind of this kind of response to see
what you the reasons why you're applying for the position so if i was applying
for a customer service or I'll be saying something that I've applied for this
position position because I genuinely feel like I've got the skills and
qualities that match this
I've been looking around for a different challenge and this job jumped out at me
because it requires you to be good with people which are like doing there is an
element of stress involved which I like
I don't want to be in a job where I'm sat down behind the desk just doing
nothing all day
I like the challenge of actually meeting different targets because that that's
what I'm like I do I like to have different challenges and I always rise
to him
I also noted in this company that you're very professional and there's a chance
for me to progress and that you know there are promotion opportunities and
once after a few years hopefully I've got really good at this job
I'd like to apply for different positions so you know I'm coming across
in a positive manner and I'm giving genuine reasons why i want to apply
how would you summarize your main skills and I would match the job description
and the person specification so I highlight them down and then I would
stay what these are you know dealing with people i'm a great supportive team
member
ok I keep myself physically fit I'm a great communicator both verbally and in
writing
you know greater at supporting people greater dealing with complaints that
kind of thing
what projects have you undertaken lightly now if the role you are applying
for his project
riven then have a good example of a project that you've undertaken
now it could be an academic one it could be something at work but it might be
something at home and there's nothing wrong we said well actually to be honest
i'm in the last six weeks i have a project which is ongoing at home which
is totally refurbished in my household decorating - what I've been doing I've
been going around the house decorating each bedroom at a time
I've got an action plan that are you so this week I make sure that I you know
decorate the kitchen once that's done I'm gonna move on to the the
to the bathroom and that's just a bit of a random type of response or scenario
but the point is he demonstrates that I'm organized because i'm using like an
action plan
so making sure that i'm using an action plan and it keeps me organized to use
those keywords
what do you know about our company so make sure that you go on the website
they are applying for and find out as much as possible about the company that
you are applying for
ok so find out about key people how many people work for them
whereabouts they operate out from how long have they been going for have they
won any awards what is their mission
what is their vision do they have any aims and objectives
do they have a customer service charter ok you can find out all of that
information on the website and also find out who the chief executive officer is
the managing director who is responsible for that company
what are your reasons for considering leaving your current job now
what you don't want to do and I've had this before we somebody once said to me
why don't really get on with my boss he doesn't want me there and I'd like to
move on immediately I'm thinking okay that might be the case but why would I
want to employ you
if that's you know you've got a problem going on at work if that is the case and
you are fed up with your job that's fine but don't say all right this is not a
big piece of advice I would say even if I didn't like my job i would say to be
honest you know I've really enjoyed my current position our work for a great
company at the moment but i'm looking for a fresh new challenge
I've been doing this job for X amount of time I feel now and ready to move on and
your company jumped out at me when I saw the job advert for hey this is a fresh
new challenge
something different for me you may have different reasons why you want to leave
your current employment but be very careful when responding to that kind of
question especially if it relates to something like a grudge that's going on
or you know if you've got problems at work
I'm not saying that these problems that you may have on genuine because I'm sure
they would be but just put yourself in the shoes of the person who's
interviewing you
how do they feel about it about your response so be very positive and upbeat
about the company that you're considering leaving
that's all I will say
where do you see yourself in five years about some strange responses to this
question in the past somebody once said i want to be where you are
I was a district manager at the time i was quite high up in the voice of is
nice that I want to be where you are
first of all you know it wasn't achievable in five years but secondly I
just thought it was a little bit too overconfident
I would have much preferred that person to say well to be honest with you I'd
love to aspire to your position but in the meantime I'm going to make sure that
I prepare for the job well i'm going to become you know to be respected amongst
my peers and in the organization to be a really good worker somebody who is
positive and then hopefully get progression
so if i was responding to that question and someone said where do you see
yourself in five years I would say well i hope i'm working for your organization
are I would work towards being a respected member of the team
somebody who is seen as someone who can achieve their targets somebody who has
excellent company appraisals
I would like to progress in the organization but I want to make sure
that i'm very good and competent in the role that I mean before i move up and
that's a great response that kind of question
ok what can you bring to this company and again think of positive keywords i
can bring a freshness and alertness a level of enthusiasm somebody new into
the team I believe that I can motivate people
I'm a great communicator I'm a quick learner
somebody who can adapt and reliable and flexible you know i won't go off sick
but I feel like I can really put my heart and soul into the organization
if you've got examples in the past we have actually achieved things whilst in
that role
then tell them what they are if you've won any awards or you've got any great
appraisals tell them about these appraisals that you had
please tell me about your salary expectations now this can be a tricky
one
some people go into low and some people go into high i would say be honest
ok if you genuinely think ok the the moment your salary expectations you know
they're they're not too high you II you know you've maybe not had that many jobs
you could say well you know i'm not that many jobs or this is my first job
therefore i'm prepared to work at a lower end of the salary
whereas if you've got a lot of experience then ask for a higher salary
but just the cater this is to make sure you're honest
not just honest with them but honest with yourself okay cause if you say it's
a job for 20,000 pounds and the salary ranges say sixteen to twenty thousand if
you go in so I want twenty thousand you know that they're going to come back and
say why you were 20,000 if you can back it up and you've got proven targets that
you've done in the past or you know you're fantastic in your role then great
but just again
the key is to put yourself in the shoes of the person who is employing you
ok don't go too low and don't go too high
unless you are really really worth it ok questions to prepare for carrying on
what do you know about the role again you can find that out from the person
specification
what are your strengths and again I would play on my strengths that are
relevant to the job description and the person specification so I'm a great
communicator on greater dealing with people and if you can give examples then
make sure you do so you can say I'm great at working with people for example
and my last job I was always put in his temper supervisor whilst the manager was
off on leave or when he or she would was a way for whatever reason you know so
that's what my strengths are and good at dealing with people and the company
recognize that what are your weaknesses
you could even cities in one or two ways you can be honest and give a weakness
all right and you might you might not be good at turning up to work on time if
that is your weakness
don't say okay also in terms of a sickness that's not very good
you know I run my own company and in the past about people going off sick and no
you can't afford it
it's one of my pet hates yes genuine sickness no problem whatsoever but you
know when you're off sick all the time and group companies really clamping down
on this nowadays so you know hopefully you will have a good sickness and he
won't be a weakness
so what your weakness is well don't say I don't have any because anybody who
just say that i would suggest is lying
but you need to think of something which is going to put you across in a positive
light
I've used in the past when someone said to me what is your weakness and this is
a genuine one I would say that sometimes I can get a little bit irate with people
when they are late for meetings all they don't match my expectations in terms of
deadlines and you know and sometimes I need to curb that i might say something
to him
I'm not inappropriately but I am I you know express my dissatisfaction that
they are late for the goods that I've ordered have turned up late and I'm
always trying to improve myself in that manner and not to sometimes say
something so but they're not to around and say but in some ways that's a
positive aspect because i am you know a genuinely caring person that I want you
know if I saw something to that to be done are needed to turn up on time
you know that kind of thing so I'm turning my witness around into a
strength
so try and think carefully about that weakness that you have do you have any
questions you wish to ask is now at the end i may say you got any questions you
wish to ask if that's the case you could say something like is there the
opportunity for progression because that shows that you are enthusiastic and
you're motivated
also how long would it be before i start if I'm successful that shows to me that
you're raring to go
ok as I said earlier don't ask questions that try and paint you in a positive
manner in terms of you know more than them because that doesn't work no
interviewer wants to hear that
and if you haven't got any questions just say no thank you very much for you
know for answering all my questions it's fine i don't have any
and thanks for intervening me okay final statement i think this is very important
at the end of the interview
what are you going to say i would say something like thanks very much for
interview me today
you know it certainly sounds like the job that I would very much enjoy
I'm sure I can contribute a lot to your company and I'd love the opportunity to
visit you and show you what I can do and i would love the opportunity to attend
the next stage
that's the kind of thing that you could say something like that so make sure you
are very very positive join the interview
telephone interviews it generally quite quite short in length but if you prepare
for those questions and follow the tips that I provided you won't go too far
wrong now finally if you visit my website www.healthcare.gov come . Cody
UK then you'll be able to find lots of information and further products
you can use you can attend a course of me if you like or about different dvds
that you can obtain to help Archer interview all that's left for me to say
thank you very much for watching and listening and I wish you all the best in
your pursuit to passing your telephone int