0: Hey there, looking for hacks on nailing a phone interview,

3: I work for Indeed.com and I got an inside look

5: from our career coaches on what you need to know.

8: Today I'll be explaining what a recruiter looks

10: for during an initial phone screen, the best

12: strategies for answering common phone interview questions,

15: and four quick tips that are specific to passing on

18: to the next round.

19: Make sure to stick around to the end

20: for a trick on knowing what type of interview

23: you should anticipate.

24: Trust me, it completely changes the way you should prepare.

27: All right, let's get started.

29: What is a recruiter looking for during an initial phone screen? What is a recruiter looking for in an initial phone screen?

32: Well, phone screens are typically

34: the first round of interviews that are conducted for a role.

37: So a recruiter here is looking to narrow down

40: a wide pool of applicants very quickly,

42: and then to only pass on the very best leads

45: to the hiring manager saving them time.

47: Emphasis here is on speed and volume.

50: They're conducting a lot of these interviews

52: really quickly.

53: So with that in mind, you want to make sure

56: that you are emphasizing, from the jump,

58: the most important parts about your qualifications

61: and experience.

62: Make sure that you've asked yourself

63: the question beforehand, what do I

65: want to make sure I get in about myself

67: so that they will pass me on to the next round of interviews.

71: In terms of the questions they're going to ask

73: and what the real content of the interview is going to be about,

75: it's nothing more in-depth than probably

77: what you've already mentioned on your application.

79: They're going to confirm your basic information.

82: They're going to validate what's on your resume,

84: maybe get a tiny bit more context on it.

86: But it's really a test of professionalism, personality,

90: and whether or not you have the communication skills that

93: are going to impress the hiring manager in the next round

95: of interviews.

96: Now, how should you handle common questions?

99: Well, I'm going to explain five common questions

102: that you should anticipate during an interview

104: and provide strategies for answering them successfully

107: and concisely.

108: The first common question is, what are you

110: doing now or tell me about yourself. Tell me about yourself...

113: The trick here is to not fall into simply describing

116: your responsibilities, instead give your response

119: some structure by explaining your role title,

122: the company you've been working for, how long you've

124: been working for them, and then two or three

127: key responsibilities and achievements during that time.

131: If you have the ability to drop a number in there,

134: that's great.

135: And even better if you have impact.

136: So instead of just saying, Oh, I've served customers

140: during my time with this company, you would say,

143: I've served 100 customers during my time

145: with this company in order to help

146: it achieve its goals of driving brand loyalty.

149: Answering, tell me about yourself

151: is a pretty tricky thing to do.

153: So if you want some more in-depth advice,

154: I highly recommend checking out this video right here.

157: Question 2 is why do you want to leave your current job? Why do you want to leave your current job?

160: Now the interviewer likely does not

162: care about the details of this or really the reason at all.

166: They just want to test your professionalism

169: and to get a gauge for how committed you would

171: be to this new opportunity.

173: So in order to pass this sort of question,

177: it's recommendable to speak positively

179: about your former employer regardless of your experience,

182: and then to explain why you would be committed, excited,

186: and invested in the long term about the new job at hand.

189: Question 3 is when could you start this new job? When can you start?

192: This is simply a logistics question,

194: so answer honestly and directly.

197: Question 4 is what are your salary expectations? What are your salary expectations?

200: Now, remember that most recruiters here

203: are trained to push you for a number first.

205: These days, they're often asking for a salary range, which

209: for some reason is a little bit easier to talk about

211: for most people.

213: But it's important to know that the company is already

216: at the advantage here.

217: The recruiter fully understands what

219: is allocated for this role.

221: So while we always want to be polite and amenable

224: during an interview, don't be afraid to deflect that question

228: back to the employer.

229: I highly recommend having some kind of line ready.

232: A good go to is I'm still learning

235: about the responsibilities of this position,

237: so I haven't determined what compensation I believe

240: would be appropriate for this role, what have you budgeted

243: for the right candidate?

244: We do have a lot of information about how to answer and discuss

248: salary expectations throughout the interview process.

251: So if you want some information on how

253: to answer those kinds of tricky questions,

255: we've got a whole video on it right here.

257: Question 5 will typically touch on details Questions about job description and company

259: about the job and company.

261: So a recruiter might ask you something like, are you aware

264: of the responsibilities of this role

266: or do you know what this company offers consumers?

269: While it's great to have a few quick things to say here,

271: definitely keep it concise and then turn it

274: back around to the recruiter by saying,

276: but I'd love to know more.

277: That's because when this question comes around,

280: the recruiter is actually a resource for you.

283: They're not seeking to test your knowledge about the company

286: and job, they're looking for an opportunity

288: to pass on some key information that could help set you up

292: for success in future interviews.

294: Remember, if you get hired, the recruiter gets paid.

298: So take notes, literally take notes

301: on what they say the hiring manager is looking for

304: or the description of the job.

306: It's often pretty different than what's listed in the job

310: description online or that you applied to.

312: And then when it comes time to ask questions,

314: don't be afraid to really lean into that opportunity

318: and get some critical information from the hiring

320: manager.

321: You can ask them things like, how

322: does this team measure success?

324: What hasn't been a fit about former interviewees?

328: Is there a part of my experience that

329: is particularly compelling?

331: Really anything that will give you some knowledge on the best

335: way to mold and present yourself so

337: that you can impress the hiring manager in the next round.

340: Now that we know the overall structure of a screener call

343: and how to answer common questions, let's leap

345: into four quick tips that can radically

347: impact your performance during a phone interview.

350: But before I do, if you've watched this far, please

353: give us a like down below, hit that subscription button,

356: and make sure that you hit the notification bell as well

358: so that you can stay updated on important career advice. Tips to better prepare

362: Tip 1 is to use your home court advantage by preparing notes.

366: Now, unlike in person or video interviews,

369: phone interviews allow you the opportunity

371: to reference notes that are in front of you

373: while still being engaged in the call.

376: So you might want to take some notes down about what's

379: in the job description, qualities

380: that they're looking for the ideal candidate, stuff

383: about the company.

384: Or you can take it a step further

386: and outline your responses to questions

389: that you know you'll be asked to like tell me about yourself.

392: Since it's the first time you're interviewing for the role,

394: you might still be internalizing why you're the best fit,

398: so it can be helpful to have your personal pitch

401: ready to go.

402: That being said, I strongly recommend just

405: having these outlines or bullet points if you do go that route

408: because it's really easy to tell when someone's

410: reading something word for word, and it

412: can sound a little scripted.

413: So just make sure that you keep it to those bullet

416: points or something that's a little more

419: general than a fully scripted paragraph.

422: Tip number 2 is to convey enthusiasm.

424: While phone interviews come with their set of advantages,

427: they also come with disadvantages.

428: Normally body language is a very important part of an interview.

432: We can show attention even when we're quiet.

435: However, the only way that you can really

437: communicate with someone over the phone

440: is through your voice, so what we say

442: and how we say it becomes even more important.

445: Plus a lot of times when you're taking a phone interview,

448: you might be in a more familiar environment like your home,

451: which typically brings our energy level

453: to a more calm, relaxed state.

456: To combat this, in order to help yourself bring enthusiasm,

460: I highly recommend designating a certain area of your home

464: that is going to be your interview space, even if it's

466: just your kitchen table.

468: It's ideal to have this sort of psychologically

470: be a space that you can enter into

473: and that isn't a spot where you associate it

476: with sleep or downtime.

478: And then once you've set that aside

480: and you can step into that, just know

482: that this is the space that you have to be "on."

485: This is where you would be fully emulating the body language

489: that you would have if you were interviewing in person.

492: By sitting up straight, keeping an open posture,

495: you can help bring enthusiasm to the call.

498: And then show active listening skills

500: by confirming, repeating, and asking questions

503: on what the recruiter has to say, plus obviously

506: just showing interest whenever possible.

508: Tip number 3 is to keep it concise.

511: A lot of career coaches advise to make an interview feel

514: more like a conversation by elaborating, providing more

517: color when asked something, and then asking

519: a question in return.

521: While that is advisable for later interviewers,

523: it does not apply to phone screener calls or first round

527: interviews.

527: Instead, it's highly recommended to keep in mind

531: that the recruiter probably only has 20 minutes,

533: and that they're almost always booked back to back.

536: Their only goals here are to confirm your basic information,

540: maybe dig in a little bit further when needed,

542: and then to pass on some key tips about success

546: in the next rounds of interviewing.

548: So golden rule, keep your answers short and sweet.

552: If the recruiter wants more information,

553: they'll ask for it.

555: Tip number 4 is to tailor the information you share How to tailor your experiences to the job description

557: based on the job description.

559: Of course, it's always important to think about

562: how am I going to frame my experience so that it's

565: most applicable to this role.

566: But it's especially important to do this with phone interviews

569: because you have such a short time to sell yourself.

572: Well, in a lot of other interviewing context,

574: it's great to think about how you're

576: going to tell your professional story

578: and really give a full picture.

580: But in this case, just go straight to the preferred

582: and required qualification section and even the skill

585: section of the job posting, and prioritize sharing information

589: only that is most relevant to that description

592: of an ideal candidate.

594: The recruiter here already knows basically what you've done.

598: So your goal isn't to just tell them, hey, here's what I do,

602: your goal is to show them that you

603: have the interviewing skills to actually make

607: the connection by saying, here's what I've done in the past

610: and here's how it's going to set me up for success

613: and makes me the ideal candidate for this future role.

616: For an explanation of the best pre-interview strategy,

618: I highly recommend checking out this video right here.

622: Now for a bonus tip, the exception

624: to the standard format of a phone screen

626: often occurs when a recruiter has an emphasis

629: on behavioral interviewing.

631: What's behavioral interviewing?

632: You've probably been asked a behavioral interview question

634: before, they often start with, tell me about a time when

638: or can you give me an example of dot, dot, dot.

641: And the goal of asking those questions

643: is to get information about your past behavior, not

647: your past experience, in order to predict

650: how you might behave in future situations

652: with this new company.

654: This tends to be most relevant for recruiters

656: that are interviewing people who have very customer

660: service have backgrounds or for communication heavy roles.

664: You don't see this so much for technical positions.

668: However, if you're wondering, well,

669: how do I know if I should be preparing

671: for that type of phone screen, I highly

673: recommend that you go to your recruiter's social media

676: profile, the professional social media profile,

679: and see if they have behavioral interviewing anywhere on there.

683: It might be in there blurb.

685: It might be a skills section.

686: But often when they have that focus,

688: they do tend to disclose that and list it on their profile.

692: If that is the case and it's on there,

693: you can anticipate that they're going

695: to breeze through some of those initial phone screen

698: questions about your experience and get more

701: into these behavioral interviewing questions

703: about stories and past behavior.

706: The key to succeeding and answering those questions

709: is to tell a really impactful and concise description

713: of events.

713: And the general structure that's recommended

716: is to describe the situation, the action you took,

719: and the impact that you drove as a result of that.

723: But there's a ton to say on this topic.

725: There's a lot of strategies for success.

727: So if you know you might be running

728: into a behavioral interview sometime soon,

731: I highly recommend checking out this video right here,

733: where we detail all the possible ways that you can respond.

737: Let's quickly review the guidance Recap

738: I've shared on nailing a phone interview.

740: Tip one is to understand what recruiters are looking

743: for during a phone screen and to prepare for common phone

746: interview questions.

747: Remember to take notes on anything

749: the recruiter says that the hiring manager is looking for,

751: so you can reference it in future rounds.

754: Second, is to use your home court advantage

756: by preparing and referencing notes throughout your call.

760: However, avoid reading anything word for word.

763: Third is to show enthusiasm.

765: Since you're on the phone, what you say, and how you say

768: it carries a lot of weight.

770: Fourth, is to keep it concise.

772: Remember the recruiter doesn't need to know

773: your professional story.

775: They just need to know your quick hits.

777: Fifth is to make sure that you tailor the information you

780: share based on the job posting.

782: Prioritize what you say based on how relevant it is to the role.

786: And then our sixth and final tip is

789: if the recruiter says anything about behavioral interviewing

792: on their professional profile, you

794: should prepare for some behavioral interview

796: questions coming your way.

798: If you found this helpful, please give us a

800: like down below and you can subscribe to our channel right

803: here.

804: You can also check out more important information

806: about interviewing and career advice

808: by clicking this playlist right there.

811: And if you want some more tips on possible behavioral

814: interviewing questions, I highly recommend checking out

817: this video right here.

819: All right, thank you so much for watching.

821: I hope this was useful to you.

823: And I'll see you next time.