Often, the very first conversation a candidate will have with a potential employer is via a phone call or screening interview. These calls are typically short in length, 15-30 minutes, and are designed to help a potential employer evaluate you as a candidate as quickly as possible. Since today’s candidate pool is a global one, and technology permits employers to easily vet multiple candidates regardless of their time zone (whilst saving employers valuable company time), remote interviewing has become an increasingly common step in the hiring process. So, as a candidate, what is the goal of a phone screen and how do you ace this integral part of the process?

Quite simply, your goal is to convert a phone screen into an in-person meeting. Here’s how:

Step 1: Take the call in a quiet place with clear cell reception
Use of a landline is preferable, but most candidates opt to use their cell phones. Fair or not, poor cell reception or distracting background noise can reflect negatively on a candidate. Since you are unable to read an interviewer’s nonverbal cues (facial expressions, body language, etc.), phone interviewing can be tricky. Ensure that the available channel of communication is as clear and open as possible. I suggest taking the call from your home where you have more control over your environment.

Step 2: Allow the interviewer to frame the call
Listen carefully to an interviewer’s opening pitch and their tone. Some phone screens last only a few minutes and are designed to elicit select pieces of information about you or your experience. It is not the job of a candidate to awkwardly extend a phone screen. Most screening calls, though, balance experience questions with personality-type questions or the “airport test”. (Would a hiring manager want to be stuck in an airport with you?) Being astute, listening and discerning the intent of an interviewer’s line of questioning allows you to effectively craft your responses.

Step 3: Be Prepared
This sounds like utterly obvious advice, but phone screens allow candidates to take their preparation a step further. For any interview situation, regardless of its forum, a candidate is required to do his/her homework in advance: study the bio of your interviewer(s), research recent news items and trade publications involving the employer, prepare targeted questions, study one’s own documents in detail and be ready to explain all career moves and experience entries listed.

But a phone screen permits candidates to also have reference items handy. They are open book examinations in terms of the availability of relevant data. So have your laptop open, a notepad available to write down thoughts and questions as they arise in the course of the conversation, and personal documents printed out. Diverse topical ground can be covered in the course of short phone conversation, so it is a tactical advantage to have all available resources at your fingertips.

Step 4: Be Convincing
You must convince the interviewer that inviting you into the office won’t waste anyone’s time. If an interviewer is left with concerns or unanswered questions after a screening call, it is unlikely that he or she will risk inviting you in to meet colleagues. Few candidates have a perfect resume, so by recognizing any gaps and potential red flags on your own and addressing them effectively and concisely at the proper time, you will allay any concerns an interviewer has and arm them with data points to market you internally with their colleagues.

In the case of a law firm or in-house position, most screening interviews are conducted by an attorney with whom you would be working. An effective screening interview turns the interviewer into an advocate for your candidacy. But telling your employment story in a concise, positive and articulate way takes practice and repetition. The employment gap listed on your resume is not on its face a deal-killer. Neither is the fact that your experience doesn’t check every box on an employer’s wish list. After all, you are on the phone with them about an opportunity. It is the way that you frame and address these issues or potential concerns that will determine whether or not conversations continue.

Step 5: Smile
This might sound trite, but it works. If you smile as you speak, the tone of your words and their effect on the listener are dramatically improved. Some telemarketing companies are so convinced of the value of employees smiling on the phone that they place mirrors at their desks to remind them to smile. If your response to this is “I work in the legal industry, not in sales!” take a moment to ask yourself what type of exchange an interview really is.

Again, the goal of a phone screen is to receive an invitation by a potential employer for a lengthier face-to-face meeting where an offer situation can occur. We will discuss tips for in-person interviewing in a later post.