How to Sell Yourself in a Phone Interview

There’s no two ways about it - phone interviews can be incredibly daunting. Without seeing the facial expressions of your interviewer it can be a little difficult sometimes to read the situation and to feel like you’re doing a good job. 

However, there are a number of steps that you can take to ensure that you have a positive phone interview experience - even if you’re a little nervous. 

Here’s how to sell yourself in a phone interview. 

Preparation is key 

It’s simple - the more that you prepare for your phone interview, the smoother things will be, so it’s important that you truly put the time in to prepare before your call. 

Research the company and make notes. Write down things you like about them - why you want to work for them, what their work environment is like and where you can see yourself fitting within their organisation. 

Print out the job description and make sure you have a copy of your CV handy. Write down any questions you’d like to ask your prospective employer at the end of the interview. 

Familiarise yourself with the desirable and essential job criteria - what skills do they need? Think of examples from your personal work experience that will show that you have the skills that are required. 

Organise your notes 

Having said that, no matter how much you prepare, it’s almost impossible to know what you’ll be asked in a phone interview ahead of time. That’s why it’s important to organise your notes. 

Highlight important points - including those you’d like to make about your own experiences, underline the job criterias that you feel you are most skilled with.

That way - regardless of which questions come up, your eye will naturally be drawn to the most important points that you’d like to make in order to sell yourself. At the end of the interview, you’ll also be able to quickly cast your eye over the highlighted points of your notes and bring up anything else that you’d like your interviewer to know, just in case it didn’t come up naturally throughout the course of the interview. 

Listen to the questions

A mistake that interviewees make time and time again is being so desperate to sell themselves that they forget to actually listen to the question. 

Of course, it’s important that you communicate your skills and your work experience, but unless you’re doing so within the appropriate context of the question - it can seem irrelevant.

Be sure to really listen to what the interviewer is asking you, and then you can draw from your organised and pre-prepared notes to form a great answer. 

Don’t be afraid to take your time 

Don’t be scared to take your time when answering each interview question. The best answers aren’t the ones that are immediately spoken, but those that are carefully constructed. 

If you’d like to hear the question again - ask the interviewer politely to repeat themselves. If you’d like clarification on a specific element of the question then absolutely do so.

Take a deep breath, glance at your notes, gather your thoughts and answer deliberately and carefully. This is far more impressive than rushing out an answer that misses the mark! 

Follow the above steps to ensure that you have a smooth, successful and enjoyable phone interview the next time you’re applying for a job.