Blog Post: Phone Interview vs. In-Person Interview... Here's What to Expect

The phone interview is designed to screen through a large pool of candidates to find qualified candidates. The in-person interview is designed to find the single, right candidate out of the pool of qualified candidates. See the difference?

For the phone interview (also called a "phone screen"), interviewers tend to ask basic questions designed to see if you're qualified for the position. They may ask about your credentials, what your looking for, and easy behavioral questions (i.e. "tell me about your top 3 strengths and weaknesses," etc.). Other questions will be about your certifications, education, and other credentials. Phone interviews are frequently outsourced to staffing agencies that are simply screening candidates.

A trick to find out if you are being screened by a true company representative or by a staffing agency is to ask a specific question about the company's financial performance or strategic plans. A staffing agency employee will be quick to let you know that they do not know the answer and why.

Be flattered that you were chosen for the phone screen. If you do not get an offer to interview in person, realize that, more than likely, something you said indicated that you were not a match for the position based on the primary qualifications.

The in-person interview focuses on seeing if you are the candidate they've been looking for. Only a few candidates are brought in for the in-person interviews. These are going to be the more thorough questions, typically focusing on behavioral qualifications. Obviously, you'll be meeting company representatives, they'll be interested in your appearance and in your body language, and they will probably be better equipped to give you a good indication about the day-to-day requirements of the position.

Both of the interviews are important. However, understanding the role of the initial phone interview helps candidates adjust their expectations so that their confidence is not damaged when they are not given offers or are subjected to even more interviews.

We still have some space at our FREE seminar on July 8th from 3pm - 6pm where we will review the current trends in what employers expect in resume writing and what employers are asking during interviews. To sign up, visit http://www.careerdevelopmentaz.com/seminar.html. There’s no cost and you’ll get hand-outs for everything discussed.

Let us know if we can help!

Good luck in your search!