Conducting interviews over the phone is the best way to narrow a large pool of candidates before inviting candidates for a job interview in person. A telephone interview is desirable because the recruiter and job candidate can save their time. Not to mention, using telephones to conduct in-depth interviews is a faster, easier way to approach primary research on a candidate. Telephone is often preferred method of interviewing because it takes less time to schedule and conduct than a face-to-face or video call interview. 

See also: 8 Different Types of Interview & Their Functions 

While conducting the phone interviews, recruiters need to follow some telephone etiquettes. Candidates cannot see the recruiter’s face during the call, so they will get the impression about your company upon hearing your voice, tone and telephone manners. If you want to have a success hiring impression on your candidate, here are some telephone interview etiquettes you should keep in mind: 

Before the phone interview:

• • Collect all relevant information and have the candidate’s resume  ready with you.

• • Prepare your questions, have them written down and ready.
  • Place yourself in the candidates shoes, think of questions they might ask you.

During the Call:

• • Be prompt

• • Clear all distractions
  • Ensure you won’t be interrupted by visitors or phone calls

Taking precautions to avoid these distractions and disturbances are necessary for these two reasons:

1. 1. If distracted, you may need to make the candidate wait on the line or reschedule the interview another time. You don’t have full control over the situation while on the phone and there is no guarantee that you will be able to reach the candidate quickly again.
   2. Distractions for sure affect the flow of thought for you and for the candidate. You may forget to ask an important question and may miss important information that the candidate would want to let you know.

More Tips:

• • Don’t simply listen, but pay full attention. Don’t let any breaks in the conversation. Be loud and clear.

• • Keep yourself smiling during the entire phone call. You may think that this is not necessary since the person at the other end cannot see you. But it is not true. Your smile very clearly affects the tone of your voice. You can try this experiment with one of your friends; make one call without smiling and another one with a smile. Ask your friend about the difference between the truth and you will be surprised with the reply.
  • While you take the time to evaluate, give the candidate an opportunity to evaluate the job and company so that he can decide if the job requirement is really right for him. There is no use in trying to hire a candidate who would drop out at the last minute of the process.

Read also: Master Your Next Remote Interview with These Tips