Telephone Interviews have become very popular as the first step in an interview process. Unfortunately, telephone interviews are probably the toughest type of interviews. Telephone interviews require even more preparation than in-person interviews. MORE

AH-HA MOMENT AUTHORS APPLICATION TAKE THE FREE QUIZ WINNERS APPROVED EXPERTS BECOME AN EXPERT EXPERT BENEFITS EXPERT SCHEDULE INTERVIEW PREP PERSONAL BRANDING RESUME & COVER LETTER YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SCORING AN INTERNSHIP C-TWIPS FEATURED TWEETS ORIGINAL PROJECT T.A.P. MORE

Today, more and more employers are conducting phone interviews before inviting job candidates to an in-person meeting. Phone interviews make it easier to screen a candidates. As a job applicant, there are benefits and disadvantages to a phone interview. MORE

In the last couple months at SmartRecruiters , I’ve conducted interviews with several job seekers and have been able to pin point the main frustrations they have had. Fluffing up the position to increase your candidate pool may give you more job seekers to interview, but once they learn more about the position, they’ll see right through that false job application and your brand will be damaged. Long Cover Letter. Phone tag is never fun. MORE

3 Strategies for Making it Past the Initial 5-Second Resume Scan » How To Handle The Phone Interview “Today is yesterday’s pupil.&# – - Thomas Fuller Recently, hiring managers and recruiters have turned to the phone interview as a method of cutting down their enormous list of applicants to a select few who are eligible for an in-person interview. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t succeed at a phone interview. MORE

I often get asked for examples of good cover letters, and a reader recently sent me a great one that I want to share. There is no single cover letter in the world that all hiring managers will love or that would be the right fit for every employer and every industry. But I receive letters every week from people telling me that moving in this sort of direction worked for them. • Do not steal this letter or even parts of it. cover letters MORE

In fact many employers just hope that their candidates will ‘get the message’ when they don’t hear anything a few weeks (or months) after the interview, but guess what? Those who didn’t make it to interview deserve recognition for the time they invested preparing their cover letter and CV. MORE

How should I phrase in my cover letter/accompanying email that I would prefer if employers e-mailed me in lieu of calling? The most you could do would be to include a line at the end of your cover letter saying something “email is the easiest way to reach me” … but I think people who prefer to call will still call. This is how it worked in the days before cell phones, after all; people received messages and called people back. MORE

About Me Contact Books Reviews Ask a Manager yes, you really should write a better cover letter March 7, 2011 Periodically I hear from readers who tell me that after they started approaching their cover letters differently, as I advise here , they started getting interviews. And yet I know many of you are still unconverted and since I would like you to actually get interviews, I’m going to continue to beat you over the head about this. MORE

Recruiters generally spend a mere 30 seconds skimming a candidate’s cover letter and résumé before deciding whether or not he or she is worthy of phone interview. Conversely, there is no need to write a book or restate your entire cover letter in your E-mail message. MORE

Prepare stories for your job interview. Know how to correctly pronounce your interviewer’s name in advance. Use fewer pronouns (I,my,me) in your cover letter. Before job interviews, practice walking into the room. Use rejection-response letters. MORE

Phone Interviews: How To Put Your Best Voice Forward. Today, more and more employers are conducting phone interviews before inviting job candidates to an in-person meeting. Phone interviews make it easier to screen a candidates. MORE

Some companies require you to submit an online application – including your resume and possibly a cover letter. For the Yes resumes (and sometimes some of the Maybes ) the next step may be a phone interview or a call for an in-person interview. MORE

Understand what other areas interviewers consider when reviewing each candidate as a total package so you perform your best at the interview. Related: 5 Tips To Ace The In-Person Interview. Here are four areas interviewers rate you on: 1. Top 3 Tips For Phone Interviews. MORE

From the reason behind the decision to leave the agency world to the interview process itself, it’s been a roller coaster of a journey. I was thrilled every time someone called to schedule an interview and enjoyed the challenge of presenting myself just right for each opportunity. MORE

The topic is job interviews. Specifically learning how to leave the interview team with a focused set of takeaways about you. It lengthens the interview, gets you more face time (time of possession for you sports fans) and lands you the job. To have a strategy for each interview. MORE

What also happens is that you may just apply to EVERYTHING, which more so than not means your resume and cover letter are not set up for that specific position. Even if they pass an interview, their lack of enthusiasm will halt them at the interview stage. MORE

When you answer the phone and sound surprised to hear from me, which prompts me to ask if you were expecting my call (which was pre-scheduled), don’t say, “I just forgot that it was Thursday.” Don’t tell me when I call for our phone interview (again, pre-scheduled) that you haven’t looked at the job description since you applied and thus can’t remember much about the job. This was originally published on December 30, 2010. MORE

Today’s job seeker must manage more than his or her résumé, cover letter, references on web job boards. Wednesday, June 01, 2011 Attend This Job Interview Sick As A Dog Or… Sunday, May 29, 2011 10 Attributes Showing Men as The Most Hard-Headed Job Seekers In The Universe Wednesday, May 25, 2011 You can chat with me here at times. More important than your resume, your cover letter, nor your smooth style of wooing an interviewer. MORE

Today’s job seeker must manage more than his or her résumé, cover letter, references on web job boards. Wednesday, June 01, 2011 Attend This Job Interview Sick As A Dog Or… Sunday, May 29, 2011 10 Attributes Showing Men as The Most Hard-Headed Job Seekers In The Universe Wednesday, May 25, 2011 You can chat with me here at times. More important than your resume, your cover letter, nor your smooth style of wooing an interviewer. MORE

Even if you have had some conversations and phone interviews or recruiters are looking at your resume, keep pressing forward with applying until you have something in hand. Maintain Your Resume And Cover Letter. How To Answer 7 Of The Most Common Interview Questions. MORE

Don’t get caught off-guard in phone interviews. Most likely, you have applied for a few jobs and after a while the calls all sound the same which makes it harder to answer any of their phone questions. Take their name, company, phone number. MORE

The extra effort and focus on them will pay dividends when recruiters and/or HR people are filling up your schedule with phone interviews. Resumes and Cover Letters Uncategorized DreamResume Job Search REsume MORE

The phone interview is an important step in the hiring process—and not something to be blown off or overlooked just because it’s less formal than an in-person interview. Mistake #2: Using a cell phone instead of a landline. Arrive on the phone as prepared as possible. MORE

The thing is, I ran into another problem – less than one in four phone interviews led to an in-person interview. Related: 6 Tips To Ace Your Phone Interview. Your posture affects your phone interviewing in a few different ways. MORE

While you may think your resume is covering the bases by including key terms between slashes, it may actually be missing the mark when you don’t have a space between it. Mention it upfront, like in your Profile Summary and in your cover letter. Top 3 Tips For Phone Interviews. MORE

After I accepted a job offer, I received an email from a recruiter from another company asking me to come in for an interview. Phone interview went terribly because the position was different than what I’d expected. I sent my résumé to their general inquiries listing and immediately got a phone call — they thought I would be a perfect fit for a new role that was a combination of chocolate teapot troubleshooter and designer. MORE

During a group interview of a young, techie, candidate, the ED asked him “how would your current supervisor describe you – in a couple of words?”. I stood up and said that the interview was over. Apparently an interviewee was given the advice to sit on the same side of the table as the interviewer. I should have asked her to move but I was so new at recruiting, interviewing and hiring at the time I just kind of froze and tried to work with it. MORE

In order to shorten your job hunt, you need to make three excellent first impressions – one on your resume, one over the phone and one in the interview. Over the phone. The keys to a successful phone conference are the same as a face-to-face meeting. MORE

And just because I want to share this and have nowhere to put stuff like this, here’s a letter I got from a reader today: Alison, I have a phone interview tomorrow! I finally changed how I was writing my cover letter and followed some of the ideas you have posted. I just got a call from a guy who said he LOVED MY COVER LETTER! Cover letters rule MORE

4 Things Interviewers Rate You On. Understand what other areas interviewers consider when reviewing each candidate as a total package so you perform your best at the interview. Related: 5 Tips To Ace The In-Person Interview. Here are four areas interviewers rate you on: 1. MORE

But it makes no sense that she’d send a letter to the owner or HR; she’s a manager and has the authority on her own to talk to your coworker and make it clear she shouldn’t do something like that again. My sister thinks my husband should tell her boss that he is related to her up front – like right away if he gets called/emailed for an interview. I work in higher ed and last year interviewed for and was offered a job at a different college from where I currently work. MORE

Even if you have had some conversations and phone interviews or recruiters are looking at your resume, keep pressing forward with applying until you have something in hand. Maintain Your Resume And Cover Letter. 6 Tips For Your First Full-Time Job Search. Work It Daily. MORE

Don’t get caught off-guard in phone interviews. Most likely, you have applied for a few jobs and after a while the calls all sound the same which makes it harder to answer any of their phone questions. Take their name, company, phone number. MORE

Exclamation points in cover letters. I have a question about the use of exclamation points in cover letters. I wrote a very compelling cover letter and used a total of three exclamation points (all appropriately) throughout the one-page document. I shared the cover letter with a former colleague. His feedback was that my cover letter “contained WAY too many exclamation points.” Initially the interview went well. MORE

Every now and then, a listing will ask for a headshot along with a résumé and cover letter, and it skeeves me out. Every now and then, a listing will ask for a headshot along with a résumé and cover letter, and it skeeves me out. is that interview question legal? MORE

In today’s fast paced working environments focus has become a four-letter word. There isn’t any time to think and meditate deeply, and there probably isn’t time to read your cover letter. Would Your Cover Letter Retweet? Cover Letter Format: Move it, move it, more. MORE

A reader writes: I recently interviewed for a bodily injury adjuster position with a major insurance company. The interview went really well. The interviewer seemed genuinely impressed, asked me a lot of questions even after he finished the ones he had prepared, and tried to sell me on the company, and we really clicked personality-wise. The interview was supposed to last an hour, but it was about 1 hour and 45 minutes. bad interviewer behavior MORE

My company wants to take over the phone number I’ve been using for personal calls. I was given a work phone when I started my job three years ago. As part of her pitch to have me accept, my manager at the time said, “I got rid of my personal phone and just use this one, so you can do the same – it’s a real perk.” ” I didn’t ever get rid of my personal phone, but my work phone did become my primary contact number for friends and family during the week. MORE

Should my former peers write a letter in support of my candidacy as their manager? Several of my former colleagues in the group (the ones I would be managing) are very much behind me and want to write a letter to the director to support me as the hire for the open manager role. I am not sure if them writing a letter will help or hurt my chances. A letter will be weird (at least in most offices). Did I ruin my chances in this phone interview? MORE

About Me Contact Books Reviews Ask a Manager things that aren’t good ideas #78 March 22, 2011 The reader who received the cover letter excerpted below described it as “things that make your heart break,&# and I have to agree. is that interview question legal? MORE

Were these interview exercises unreasonable? At what point do exercises or activities given during an interview process become training? During an interview process, I was given three exercises total (in addition to three phone interviews and one in-person interview). During the in-person interview, we reviewed my answers to the exercises and I was given input on how I could have completed them better. It’s five answers to five questions. MORE

Presenting yourself well in a phone interview is deceptively difficult. If you thrive on using body language and a charming smile to make a strong impression in interviews, the phone can nullify your best features and knock you back on your heels. MORE