Q:  Phone interviews make me nervous. Do you have any advice for handling them?

A:  The majority of phone interviews are used as screening sessions before a regular, sit-down interview takes place. The interviewer is trying to eliminate the candidates they don’t want to spend time meeting with. In this situation, your goal is to get through the screening process, i.e. you probably won’t be winning the job based on this interview, although it is important to prepare for it.

In a small number of cases, the “real” interview does occur by phone – for instance if the decision-maker is travelling or working remotely. In this case, much of the preparation is similar to preparing for an in-person interview. My colleague, Greg Menzone, recently blogged about preparing for an interview and I recommend you take a look at his tips for researching the company you’re interviewing with, practicing your responses and answering standard questions.

Although the questions that you are asked by the interviewer are likely to be the same, there are some key differences between phone and in-person interviews. First, consider that the majority of what is communicated in an interview is actually nonverbal (research shows that 55% of communication is visual, 38% is tonality and only 7% is your actual language). It’s also hard to know what’s happening on the other end of the phone. For instance, the interviewer could have their email open or could have you on ‘mute’ while they talk to people coming by their office. This is one of the reasons I don’t recommend doing phone interviews unless they are absolutely necessary.

If you find yourself facing a phone interview here are some tips for making it successful:

• Try to find an isolated environment where you can talk without being disturbed. I highly recommend using a land line and not a cell phone.  If you have to use a cell phone, don’t be mobile, stay still so you won’t lose the signal.
• Be professional. Even though no one can see you, you should treat the phone interview the way you would treat a regular, in-person interview that takes place in a busy professional office. Have your resume in front of you and have questions that you’ve prepared on hand so you can refer to them if needed.
• Express excitement with your tone of voice. Since you won’t be able to use body language to convey your excitement about the job opening, do what you can to convey it with your voice. Try to mirror the person you’re speaking with. For example, you don’t want to strike a laid back, casual attitude with your tone if they person you are speaking with is extremely upbeat – it will result in an awkward, mismatched conversation. As a rule of thumb, your tone should be slightly more upbeat than the interviewer’s.  Standing up when you’re talking will help your energy flow and smiling during your conversation (even when the other person can’t see you) will help convey a positive spirit.
• Ask about next steps. If your phone interview is a success, the next step is probably an in-person interview. A good way to end the phone conversation is to ask about the next step and to state your willingness to meet in person.

About the Recruiter
Frank Gentile is a 20+ year veteran of the staffing industry and an experienced recruiter.  As a Director at Professional Staffing Group (PSG) Frank and his team place candidates in permanent positions in Corporate Accounting and Finance, Financial Services and Administrative roles.

Q:  Do you have any advice on preparing for a job interview?

A:  The interview is a critical step in the hiring process. It’s a chance for the employer to meet you in person and gauge your personality and passion in a way they can’t do by reviewing a paper resume.

Here are several tips for preparing:

• Take a hard look at the job description – ask yourself how well your skills match up with the job requirements and then practice talking about how you meet the requirements. Focus on the ones that may be a challenge for you so you will be prepared when they come up.
• Research the company and the position – a recruiter, such as myself, will give you as much background as they can before the interview, and obviously you’ll look at the company’s web site for information from company press releases, the management team bios and other sections. You can also use the web to go beyond that and do more extensive research. Any large company will have lots of information on the web and will be represented in various ways on social networks (e.g. with official company presence on social networks and via individual staff members’ participation). If the company you’re interviewing with is publicly traded you can search by its ticker symbol to find out about the financial health of the company, its major stakeholders and what people are saying about its future prospects. However, keep in mind that information or comments on complaint boards or web sites may be tainted by their source, i.e. a disgruntled individual.
• Recite your answers – it’s one thing to know your background, but another to be able to state it concisely and convincingly when someone asks you to tell them about it. I tell candidates to use stories and examples to make their statements come alive. Practice saying your answers out loud. Seriously.
• Prepare your own questions – having questions prepared to ask the interview helps you get the most from your limited meeting time and shows that you’re interested in the position. I recommend preparing extra questions so you have lots of choices about what to ask depending on where the conversation goes. Make sure you write down the questions you want answered and don’t be afraid to ask the same question if you meet with multiple interviewers, especially if it’s a good question that you’ve put thought into.
• Complete the application – most job applications are online and request standard information from the job seeker. Here’s the thing that most candidates don’t realize:  some companies use the application step as a “knock-out round” by which I mean that if they receive an application with typos or one that is not completely filled out, they will knock that candidate out of contention. So take this step seriously – the employer could be using it as a gauge to see how detail-oriented a candidate is.
• Anticipate ‘standard’ interview questions – such as:

Why did you leave your most recent position?
I recommend finding a positive way to start your answer to this question, e.g. “It was a great three years,” or “I’ve learned a lot,” or “I’ve been exposed to some great people,” and then give one major reason for leaving, e.g. a better opportunity, more growth potential.  I suggest you leave out talking about the personalities of the people you worked with or the overall culture of the firm.

What is your current salary? What are your salary expectations/requirements?
Don’t get caught off guard with this question. Don’t be evasive when asked directly about your current salary: let the interviewer know what you make now and segment it by base and bonus, if applicable. You can be a little less direct with the second question, though; for example, I suggest letting the interviewer know that aligning with the right organization is most important to you and that you have a salary range in mind versus a specific number. There are some cues that will help you shape your answer – such as knowing why the interviewer is asking the question (e.g. is it to qualify you for the position or to begin negotiating with you?) and understanding what the salary ranges are for a variety of internal positions at the company. You can read my other suggestions for how to handle this question in my previous post.

Tell me about yourself.
The interviewer really wants to hear about your career experiences, not about your personal life timeline. Start with your education, talk about the jobs you’ve held since then – with more emphasis on the recent jobs, especially if you’ve been in the workforce for a long time – and sum up your skills and experience at the end.

What are your strengths/weaknesses?
When talking about your strength(s), your answer will be more convincing if you can provide an example of how an employer benefited from your skills. For example, “My strength is my ability to hit deadlines, which allows me to maintain my schedule of deliverables and in turn allows me to close the books within a four day period.”  When asked about your weakness, avoid a coy answer – i.e. don’t say “I work too hard” – but instead use this as a chance to explain how you’re working to overcome the weakness or mention your plan to learn new skills that will compensate for a weakness.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
This question helps the interviewer see whether you are committed to the job you’re interviewing for.  Answer it accordingly.  For example, you could say “I’m focused on this position but if you were to come to me in a few years with an opportunity to promote me and help me progress I would certainly be interested.”

And, finally, realize that what you say is often not as important as how you say it, according to this Washington Post article on the importance of body language during interviews.

About the Recruiter
Greg Menzone is a 10-year veteran of the staffing industry who has made hundreds of successful placements. Greg and the team he manages specialize in direct hire placement of accounting and finance professionals.

Q:  Is it OK to mention a preference for telecommuting when I’m interviewing?

A:  It depends on your situation and whether telecommuting is a preference, as you say, or a necessity.  The company’s culture and the nature of the work you’re interviewing for are also considerations.

For people who need a schedule where they can work from home, or for those who wouldn’t take a job unless it allowed telecommuting, I recommend bringing the subject up early in the interviewing process.

However, if telecommuting is more of a “want” than a “need”, you’ll want to be careful about how you ask the question and when you ask it.  In general, I recommend waiting until the interview process is further along and you have a better sense of the job, the company and whether there is a good match between you and the organization.

If you have highly in-demand skills then you can put the telecommuting benefit on the table for negotiation. When you do, try to put a positive spin on how your telecommuting would benefit the company, e.g. eliminating the commute would make you more productive, and explain how you plan to make it work — such as providing status reports.

If you don’t have high-demand skills and are interviewing for a position along with lots of other qualified candidates, it’s probably not beneficial to bring it up until you’ve worked in the position for awhile and earned the telecommuting benefit.

After 8 years of working at PSG, I started working from home when my first child was born, and I modify my work schedule to fit client needs or to fit personal commitments.  I’ve found it’s also important to have a backup plan in place in case company or client needs change and your telecommuting schedule has to be altered. A successful telecommuting arrangement must work both ways!

About the Recruiter
Laurie Fiumara has 10+ years of experience in the staffing and recruiting industry. As a director and member of the management team at Professional Staffing Group (PSG), she oversees PSG’s major client relationships.

Q:  I found another job and will be leaving my job; what’s the best way to tell my employer?

A:  When resigning from one job and transitioning to another it’s important to stay professional and consider the impression you’re leaving. You may have spent years building a positive reputation and there are many business and maybe personal reasons why you do not want to tarnish that reputation in the last two weeks.   Here is some general advice:

• Announcing your resignation – Your boss should be the first person you tell at work; resist the temptation (if any) to tell co-workers or friends; and while it might not be inappropriate to tell an HR person, the professional way to do it is to tell your boss. It’s typically best to resign both in-person and in writing and the way to do that is to prepare a letter and then deliver it to your boss in person. Keep the letter short, simple and positive. It should include the effective date of your resignation and an offer to stay on for a period of transition (typically two weeks). In the letter you should also thank your boss and the company for the opportunity they gave you.

• Keep it positive and remember that less is more —  refrain from offering criticism (however constructive you think it will be or however sincerely it is asked for).  Also don’t talk at length about your new job and how wonderful it is, it is likely to come off as a criticism of your current employer.  You don’t need to explain or justify your personal goals and decisions and try not to react to those who take your decision to leave personally.

• Anticipate a counter-offer – It is helpful to think about this in advance. A counter-offer is your current employer’s way of trying to keep you, usually by offering more money or a promotion, in response to the announcement of your intention to leave.  Take note that the vast majority of people who accept counter-offers are no longer working at the same company 6-12 months later; so threating to quit is not a great long term strategy to career satisfaction.  If you don’t really want to leave, don’t resign – try to address your issues in other ways.  If you do get a counter-offer, while it is flattering to hear what they are offering, don’t  lead the company on – if you intend to leave,  tell them that fact and don’t make them grovel only to ultimately tell them “no.”

• Prepare to transition – Whether you know who will be taking your place when you leave or not, it’s a good idea to make sure everything is in order and to make it as easy as possible for others to take over your work when you’re gone. This can range from creating a file with status on all unfinished projects to setting up notices and new contact information for online accounts (like email) to offering to field queries after you’ve left.

• Keep the same work habits – Continue to work your normally scheduled hours.  Don’t come in late, leave early, or take long lunches.  Even if your workload is diminished find a way to remain focused on productive work.

It would be easy enough to get away with not taking my suggestions.  It may even be likely that there are no immediate negative consequences to handling your resignation and notice period “all wrong.”  I make these suggestions not based on my value judgment of what is polite or right, rather I make these suggestions as I believe they are in your best interest.  You just never know where your career will lead, and/or where the careers of the people you leave behind will lead.  Your paths my cross again and it will help if your positive reputation remained in tact.

About the Recruiter
Greg Menzone is a 10-year veteran of the staffing industry who has made hundreds of successful placements. Greg and the team he manages specialize in direct hire placement of accounting and finance professionals.

Q: I work in HR and hear a lot about using LinkedIn to find a job, but do you have any tips for us on “the other side” about using it to recruit and hire candidates? So far all I’ve done is connect with a bunch of people.

A: Although we may think of LinkedIn more often as a tool for job seekers, plenty of recruiters and employers use it as well. Many of the same tips that apply to job seekers using LinkedIn would apply to you, too. For example:

• Make sure your profile works for you – if your primary role at your company is to recruit and hire, make sure that’s spelled out in your profile. You’ll get more on-target communications that way. Also, be sure to use the status feature to let your connections know when you have a job opening or when you’ll be at a networking event. You can also use the status feature to link to job- or company-related news to let people know what you’re focused on.

• Use LinkedIn for company searches – just as a job seeker would use LinkedIn to research a company or find people who work there, as a recruiter you can use LinkedIn’s search feature to find people in particular roles in your target industry.

• Participate in groups – LinkedIn allows users to create groups around specific interests and you can join groups for your industry, company, college/university alumni or start a new group. For instance, if you’re a recruiter in the technology industry, find and join groups related to the technology field; doing so will help you stay on top of events and network in that field and potentially meet qualified job candidates.

• Post jobs – you can make LinkedIn part of your job posting process by posting jobs within the groups that you belong to and by announcing the job openings in your status update. For each job opening, consider which groups might be interested in hearing about the opportunity and then use the same language and specific information you include in other online postings to post the job within the group. If you’re announcing the job opening in your status update you won’t have room to include the full post, but can include a link to the full online posting.

• Email your connections – use LinkedIn’s email to send a group email to your connections when you have an open position and want their referrals or when you have other recruiting updates to share.

• Check recommendations – some candidates’ profiles will be more complete than others, but if a candidate has recommendations on their profile they may be useful sources of background information.

About the Recruiter
Jessica Salerno Incerto has 10+ years of experience in the staffing and recruiting industry. As a director and member of the management team at Professional Staffing Group (PSG), she oversees recruiting and placement for HR and Technical careers. Jessica is also a member of NEHRA’s Diversity Committee. Connect with her on LinkedIn by clicking here.

Q:  How should I handle the salary question? 

A:  I have two things I always tell candidates before an interview:  first, always answer this question truthfully; and, secondly, think more broadly about compensation and what you want to get out of this job. It’s important to be truthful for obvious reasons, but also because your answer will likely be verified by the employer.

Here’s what I mean about the second piece of advice: I always tell candidates to put the number they’re thinking about in the back of their mind. Take the focus off a dollar amount and focus instead on the job opportunity. For instance, when asked what your current salary is and what your salary expectations are, answer truthfully and say that you’re looking for an opportunity to progress and improve professionally. Let them know that the opportunity to progress in your career is the most important thing and that you’re confident you’ll be adequately compensated. By doing so, you’re signaling to the interviewer that you want to take on more responsibilities and therefore earn more than your current salary, but you are not limiting yourself to a specific number at this stage.

Also consider these factors when it comes to the salary question:

• It’s important to understand why the recruiter is asking you about salary. If it’s very early in the interviewing process, it’s likely they’re asking to qualify you in general. They’re not looking to negotiate with you, but want to make sure you’re in the ballpark.  If the question comes up later in the interview process, it’s more likely they’re trying to feel you out and understand what it would take to get you to accept an offer.
• For many hiring organizations, internal equity is an important factor when consider salary. They don’t want to risk bringing a new employee in at a salary level that is significantly different from the salaries of current employees who are at the same level. Therefore, it’s smart to do your research, or to discuss this with a recruiter, and understand what the salary range is for the job you’re interviewing for and what variables affect higher or lower salaries within that range.
• One last note: while it’s good to be a little aggressive when talking about salary, you don’t want to be too aggressive that you’ll scare off the interviewer. Try to avoid talking about salary in finite terms, e.g. “I won’t take anything less than…” and instead use language like “I would be really excited about the opportunity if it hit the high $70/s in terms of base compensation. However, again, it’s all about the opportunity and the chance for me to take the next step in my career.”

About the Recruiter
Greg Menzone is a 10-year veteran of the staffing industry who has made hundreds of successful placements. Greg and the team he manages specialize in direct hire placement of accounting and finance professionals.

Q:  I like my job, but want to be promoted to the next level at some point in time. But that may not be possible at my current employer. What do you recommend? 

A:  It’s great that you’ve found a job/company you enjoy. It’s also important to recognize where opportunities for growth exist.  You didn’t explain what your current job is, but there are some universal tips for positioning yourself to get to the next level – whether that’s at your current employer (in case you assumed incorrectly that there aren’t growth opportunities there) or whether you move to another company to get to the next level.

Once you’ve set your sights on moving up the career ladder, there are five things I recommend doing:

1. Analyze your current situation:  take a good look at the role you’re currently in and examine the day-to-day responsibilities you perform.  Start a list of the responsibilities you’re undertaking that correlate to the next level of performance.
2. Determine if you have the right credentials:  take a look at the requirements for the position you desire to see if there’s anything you can do to be more qualified for the role, such as taking courses to learn software relevant to the new job, getting certifications or attending graduate school.
3. Re-frame yourself:  highlight your work accomplishments and achievements (rather than the duties and responsibilities) on your resume and also use them to develop an elevator speech or ‘script’ that you can deliver when interviewing.
4. Practice interviewing:  appearing confident and capable during an interview is critical to winning a promotion.
5. Use your current situation to get more experience:  One way of gauging whether someone is ready to take on a higher level role is how long they’ve been at the job. You can also get more experience by asking to take on additional responsibilities while you’re in your current job.

About the Recruiter
Frank Gentile is a 20+ year veteran of the staffing industry and an experienced recruiter.  As a Senior Group Manager at Professional Staffing Group (PSG) Frank and his team place candidates in permanent positions in Corporate Accounting and Finance, Financial Services and Administrative roles