The phone interview is typically used by hiring managers to screen possible job candidates rather than having to invite all of them in for longer face to face interviews.

The phone interview is used to then cull the list of potential candidates down to a smaller group of people who meet certain criteria and appear to be suitable for the job.

In my experience, employers who I've worked with who utilize phone interviews often do so for two main reasons.

First they might be the type of hiring manager who for whatever reason likes to start with a large group of potential candidates and then quickly go through the list to identify a smaller group that they want to interview face to face in more detail.

Secondly, hiring managers often utilize the phone interview as a method of interviewing out of town candidates who don't live in the same city (or state/province/country) as the hiring company.

When you have a phone interview set up you need to keep a few things in mind:

The person interviewing you can't see you (and you obviously can't see them either) so remember that they are judging not only what you say, but how you say it.

Ensure that you are in a quiet place when the phone interview occurs.

Ensure that you answer the phone at the time the interview takes place. Dont miss the call!

Dont get distracted during the interview. Ensure you are alone and cant be distracted by anyone or anything.

If you're using a cordless phone, make sure you have good reception and that it's fully charged. It's not a great idea to use a cellphone unless you're sure you are going to have 100% perfect reception.

As with a face to face interview, try to get an idea from the person interviewing you what happens next in the interview process before the call ends ie. When will you hear back from them? Is there a face to face interview next?

Carl Mueller

My name is Carl Mueller and I'd like to thank you for learning a bit more about me!

I feel that I have numerous relevant experiences during my career that come in useful when helping people with their careers:

I know what it?s like to work internationally, having worked overseas (in New Zealand, from 1994-1998).

I've survived several corporate downsizings while many of my colleagues were being laid off.

I have also experienced being laid off twice myself during corporate downsizings.

I know what it?s like to be self-employed.

I've helped many people find better jobs. I started to work as a professional recruiter in 2000 first as an Information Technology (IT) recruiter and then in general recruitment across many industries including IT, manufacturing and marketing. Since this time, I have helped many people find their dream career and it?s a great feeling.

I experienced one of the slowest hiring periods in recent memory especially during the general hiring slowdown that followed the Y2K frenzy in 1999, the bursting of the dot com bubble in early 2000, and then the employment market bottoming out following September 11, 2001.

These were certainly not great times to be a job searcher in most industries nor was it a particularly good time to be a recruiter.

Following this, I began running the day to day operations of an Internet-based company in early 2003 that focused on developing online software and subscription-based websites for consumers. It was then that I fully realized the power, usefulness and potential of the Internet which really spurred me to set up my own website which you can view in my Personal URL section below this bio.

I?m also a Platinum Ezine Articles Expert as recognized by EzineArticles.com, one of the most visited websites on the Internet. This special designation is earned by having consistently high-quality articles published and viewed on their website. All of my submissions are related to helping you find your dream career and many of my articles get reproduced on other websites by their webmasters.

Good luck with your career and I hope I have been of assistance to you!

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