Chris Wellington “The Recruiting Guy”, President, The Wellington Group

What is the predominate first step in this day and age of interviewing with a potential new employer? The telephone! Call it whatever; Prep-call, Pre-interview, Phone-screen, Telephone-interview, Video-interview…etc. The simple fact is that it has become easy and cheap for companies to hold telephone interviews or even video (like Skype) interviews before bringing on-site or in-person the final round of people.

With that said how are your telephone interviewing skills? Are you preparing well, in a location of minimal distractions and ready to sell yourself? Below are a few quick tips to help you better prepare for that next telephone interview.

Telephone Interview Tips from The Recruiting Guy:

• Have a copy of your resume and the job description with you on the call or video call. In addition, have a note pad and a couple of pens ready as well for points of interest and questions during the call, and to capture any name(s) and contact information for follow-up thank you note(s).
• Thoroughly review the job description and any associated information you have about the job for which you are being considered. Write out any areas you have of strength, add in some specific examples in case you are asked to elaborate. For any areas you are not sure about or are “rusty” do your research or decided how you are going to respond (so it’s not off the cuff). Example, “I don’t know that particular piece of email software, BUT I would love the chance to put my computer skills to work and learn about it quickly.”
• Do your homework on the company. Check out their website, fan pages on social media, latest 10k reports or other financial reports, the management team close to the job (if not the person interviewing you) by reviewing their LinkedIn or ZoomInfo profiles. What do you have in common?
• Write out the questions you would like answered by the interviewer. REMEMBER, this is an initial interview in most cases so don’t control the time with your questions, be specific and brief.
•  Prepare for the right phone presence. Even though you are not in suit on the other side of the desk with this person, be mindful of your personality, tone, enthusiasm and articulation of both questions and answers.
•  Take or make the call in a place of minimal distractions and if possible on a land line and not a cell phone. You want to ensure all information is promptly communicated in a professional manor with no dropped calls or noisy background traffic.

In many cases the telephone interview is your first, and can be your last, introduction to a company. Use this time and opportunity to prepare well, and to put your best effort forward! This is the chance to “sell yourself” and the skills, knowledge and experience you bring to this job and the company.

Good luck with your next telephone interview!

Chris                                                                                                                

For questions or help on this and many other ideas on how to make your career search more effective contact the staff at The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com or visit The Career Store.

Chris Wellington “The Recruiting Guy”, President, The Wellington Group

…ring, ring

Me:  This is Chris

Jeff:  Chris, this is Jeff Smith, man how are you?  I need your help!

Jeff Smith is calling and needs my help?  I immediately get into my normal excited state knowing that something great is coming.  Either he needs to hire a new team member or perhaps has a client that can utilize the support of my team for their hiring needs or recruitment training.

For years Jeff was consistently a top competitor when we worked together at the same company, relentlessly trying to outperform each other in a very positive but “A” player sort of way. Not just making the President’s list but getting the shiniest trophy and most time with the CEO and other Sr Managers.

Me:  Jeff how can I help you? What is going on with the greatest global sales manager I know?

Jeff:  Nothing good, I was just released (from Fortune 225 Company) last week…

Wow, not the call I expected from Jeff. How will they manage the millions in revenues he has brought in over the years?

…Pop, pop, pop CK is sending me instant messages.

Me:  Hey CK, what’s up, how hot is your desk right now?

CK:  Not so great, I need your help.

Me:  Can you give me 5 and I will call you, where are you in the US today?

CK:  At home, not sure I can talk right now.

Ok, if CK is IMing me and needs my help then we must get ready to put a new staff member on her team or she has a project she needs us to help recruit on which they have sold. After all, she is 300% above budget for the year and the last hire we made produced revenues in her second week! CK is the top GM for her niche and is great about not only hiring, training and managing her people but also the strongest operations manager I know.

Me:  Ok, must be swamped how can I help?

CK :  Need a job, and a few minutes tonight to help me walk through where I might have gone  wrong

Me: Job? Did you quit lol

CK:  No Sir, they cut my entire staff 30 minutes ago, including me and replaced us with a support team from home office

If you have not clued in yet, the two examples above are “A” players in their industries and have been released from their respected (well not by them any longer) companies. See, I am writing to bust a myth I keep hearing and reading about from various periodicals, organizations and “people in the know;” Talent Management, SHRM, NAPS, SalesDrivers, News Paper Writers and Editors, Employment Gurus, Trainers, and Business Coaches. The myth which seems to persist is that “A” players don’t or are not being cut nor impacted by the current economic conditions. WRONG!

Ridiculous I say, spend a week on my phone or in my email and I can show you hundreds of “A” Players who have been impacted over the last 20+ months now, and it continues. For definition, an “A” Player is someone at that top 3-10% level in any company, any skill set and in any industry. Some are only known internally in large-mega organizations while others are known internationally or industry wide. It has long been a myth, and more so true with the current economic conditions, these people just don’t get released, laid-off, downsized, or whatever your terminology is for them losing their job while still being at the top.

So why do the top 10% of any job category get impacted?
Too expensive – Top 10% performers generally receive compensation rates commensurate to the level of their performance. One way companies perceive they can impact the bottom line and make true reactionary decisions is to cut the most expensive people and replace them with technology, jr-level home office support or in some cases they do nothing with the expectation that it will not negatively impact the company’s revues or client retention.

Marginalized business – Many companies and some industries operate on such low margins that any blimp on the economic cycle creates major cash-flow and credit issues, so the top just have to go and more jr people or senior management get handed business or jobs the “A” players worked so hard to attain.

Poorly supported region or geography – Lack in upper management leadership or true “out of site out of mind” support for a region that may be profitable but not large enough or unknown to senior management is likely to get the axe.

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) – As we have seen in all industries, the consolidation has created duplicate roles or left individuals and their projects totally unsupported or not needed as the new company has a different vision and/or resources.

Person was miss-hire to begin with – Some of these cases are truly a miss-hire and the company was overly ambitious or sometimes exceedingly lucky to gain the addition of an “A” player in their industry. The company has just not been able to keep pace with this individual and in many cases their production has lead to cash flow, product production or servicing issues for smaller companies

Why this blog piece? I thought it was important to highlight the reality behind the unemployment numbers as we continue to hover around >10% in the US. These 8 million or more impacted are not all the bottom performers of our workforce, nor just hourly, nor retail or manufacturing, nor in outdated industries. In fact, many were high-earners for their employers that for some reason or another their organization just could not “afford” to keep that individual onboard. So I caution, before over-looking the unemployed take a minute to truly study this individual’s background and track-record. After all, unemployed is not, and should not be a four letter word when hiring for top talent!

UPDATE: Jeff went on to take one of three offers, running the West coast Division of another fortune company. CK is managing a new company that has a unique service offering, adapted to the changed economy we now love.

Chris

To hire The Recruiting Guy as a speaker or trainer visit The Recruiting Guy or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com.