Telephone interviewing

I had a telephone conference interview on Friday with 5 other people on the conference call.  The hiring manager was on the line as well as different individuals that she reports to around the country.  It's hard not to feel a little intimidated in such a situation.  How do you prepare for this type of interview?  How do you keep yourself from panicking.

I believe the first thing to do is what they say you should always do before you pick up the phone, smile.  A smile puts you in a better frame of mind and somehow the other persons can here it.  I don't know exactly how it works but it does.  I am reminded of a candid camera skit from the late Seventy's (showing my age a little there) where they rigged up a special phone booth and would call it to attract random people.  The person on the other end of the line would speak as if he had a bad cold.  As he was speaking he would sneeze and water would spray out of the phone as if the person sneezed through the phone.  That is how I think of a smile transferring through the phone.  It's like sneezing on people, just not gross.

Just be yourself and treat the phone interview as you would a regular interview.  Let your personality show through.  The questions are going to be similar.  If you have adequately prepared for it, you should be able to adequately answer the questions.

If you ever get a question that you feel you flubbed regardless of the type of interview, write it down after the interview.  You can then formulate a proper answer for it for any future interviews.

In a nutshell, smile - be yourself - be prepared.  You will do fine.