Re: Preparation for a phone screen interview

[Charles E Vermette <cvermette -at- juno -dot- com>]

Bruce Byfield wrote:

<<<Would you really expect, when you're being interviewed, to be told
that the product manager has been campaigning for the funding for the
position, and that the CTO has been against it and is going to hate
anyone who takes the job? Or that product  development is done at the
company without the benefit of any planning?...

An interview is like a first date: both parties are sizing each other up.
Both interviewer and interviewee are usually on their best behavior
during an interview,  and won't really get to know each other for some
time afterward...>>>

With one exception, every phone interview I've ever done was a
preliminary for an in-person interview (and the one that wasn't was a
contract I got...)

I prefer this two step process where:

- the phone interview is strictly to screen you (or them) , and:
- the in-person interview is for "sizing up" each other.

If the employer has specific screening criteria (and I'm not going to
meet the criteria) then I'd just as soon be screened out. Two examples:

- A phone interview that lasted about 30 seconds: the interviewer asked a
question about the Online Help experience on my resume, then said this
was a potion churning out print docs,and politely ended the conversation.
The point? Better a 30 second conversation than spending half a day in
Boston to get the same result...

- A phone interview *I* ended: I was dealing with a real shyster agency
(later I found out the guy had left an agency I had worked with and
stolen the resume database, a la GlenGarry Glen Ross...) He was trying to
get me a gig at a client 70 miles away, but I had a feeling he was
pushing me at a job I didn't have the skill set for (and no, it wasn't a
"cram over the weekend and you can learn it" skill...it was a CPA with
VBA experience kind of skill set.) In any event, a phone interview was
arranged. The first question was a CPA exam type of question, and I said,
"I suspected that this position involved intricate accounting knowledge.
If so, I'm not your candidate and I apologize for the unconvinced..."
Saved me (and them) a full day that time (and hopefully earned the
recruiter the contempt he deserved...)

On the other hand, the in-person interview gives you the non-verbal
information you can't get over the phone, and the chance to get
information indirectly.  

- You may not be told that "the product manager has been campaigning for
the funding for the position, and that the CTO has been against it", but
you may be able to read tension between the two, or discern the situation
by comparing their descriptions/outlook on the project...

- You may not be able to ask "are you a company that blackmarks people
who don't work 70 hours a week," but you *can* casually slip in a
question like "so what evenings/weekends like around here?" (actual
answer I got: "well, I managed not to work last weekend"...I got my
answer without alienating anyone...I also got an offer, which I turned
down...)

This assumes the development of three skills (all of which have come hard
for me:) 

- The ability to listen and observe instead of talking;
- The ability to develop and rely on my own powers of observation, and:
- The ability to know when to ask direct and indirect questions 

Chuck

Charles E. Vermette
85 Washington Park Drive, Norwell MA 02061
781-659-1836
e-mail: cvermette -at- juno -dot- com
web: http://www.charlesvermette.com

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