6 steps to ace your phone interview

Do you need to prepare for a big phone interview? While it may seem safer than a face to face, the phone presents its own challenges. Follow these steps to deliver your best interview.

Step 1: Interview the reporters. Before you agree to an interview, glean as much information from reporters as you can. Find out who they are, who they write for and who their intended audience is. See if you can dig a little deeper, too. Who else will they interview? What’s their angle? Some reporters will divulge more than others, but it never hurts to ask respectfully. If they don’t wish to answer, don’t force the issue. You don’t want to put the interviewer on the defensive.

Step 2: Gather your notes. Odds are you have a good idea of what the interview is about. Consider questions that reporters could ask and prepare answers. This isn’t so you can repeat them word for word like a robot, but having good bullet points to work off of will help you not get stuck. Try and anticipate any “gotcha” type questions they could come up with. Know what you’re going to say because if there are any skeletons in the closet, reporters will try to pull them out.