First-round job interviews are pretty commonly carried out by phone these days, so giving a great telephone interview is a skill worth having. Interviewing well on the phone takes a slightly different approach than the face-to-face encounter.

Dress

The most obvious difference is that your appearance, crucial during a normal interview, is immaterial in a telephone interview. You might think this means you can conduct a telephone interview in your pajamas, but this would be ill advised. While you don’t have to dress to the nines, it’s worth putting on clothes that make you feel professional. This will be reflected in your voice and attitude on the phone.

Body Language

In a telephone interview, your body language can’t give you away, but neither can it help you. You can’t establish a rapport with your interviewer by using eye contact. You should still use good posture when you answer questions, however, and smile when appropriate -- both these things will come across in your voice. One advantage of the phone interview is that you can stand up if you feel this gives you extra dynamism and energy.

Voice

Because your voice is the only external indicator your interviewer has to go on, it becomes particularly important during a phone interview. In preparation for the interview, record your voice over the phone and listen to it. You can do this on your home voice mail or answering machine. Listen critically to see whether your voice sounds confident and authoritative, and whether your pace is too fast or too slow. During a normal interview, your voice is just one of a host of personal traits you’ll be judged on, and it becomes relatively less important.

Notes

One huge advantage you can have in the phone interview is the ability to keep notes in front of you. At the very least, you should have the job posting, your application and your resume. You could also have a sheet with bullet points you want to remember to mention. Don’t write out very detailed notes, though -- you’ll just get lost and end up sounding disjointed. Keep a pen handy to jot down things that occur to you as you listen to the questions.

Environment

When you go to a normal interview, you are already in a controlled environment. In a phone interview, it’s your responsibility to control the situation on your end of the line. To do this, switch off all other phones or noise-making devices in the room with you before the call. If you are at home, ensure that kids or pets are being cared for by someone else and there’s someone there to answer the door if need