What are Common Telephone Interview Questions?

The questions one should expect to answer during an interview over the telephone will be very similar to the questions one would expect to answer in person. Telephone interview questions aim to accomplish the same goal as in-person interview questions: to find out why a candidate believes he or she is best for a job. Since the interview is being conducted over the phone, the candidate should expect to convey his or her professionalism in different ways, however. Since visual presentation is not vital to the phone interview, the candidate will have to answer telephone interview questions in such a way that the employer understands the candidate's character, presentation, and professionalism over the phone.

If the candidate is participating in a phone interview, that may mean he or she is in a location far away from the job location. Some of the telephone interview questions the candidate may encounter may have to do with relocation: the employer may want to know if the candidate is willing to relocate for the position, if he is able to relocate without the financial assistance of the company, and if the candidate has experience with the city in which the job is located. Location may matter to some employers more than others, but the candidate should be ready and willing to discuss this issue should telephone interview questions address them.

Preparing for a telephone interview will require the candidate to be just as prepared as he would be going into a face-to-face interview. The telephone interview questions will focus on the candidate's experience, background, goals, and attitudes. An employer will want to know about a candidate's strengths and weaknesses, and the candidate should be prepared to discuss these issues in such a way that the employer gets a solid understanding of how the candidate operates professionally. A candidate should always be prepared to discuss his weaknesses and how he has worked to overcome them using specific workplace examples.

The employer is likely to ask several open-ended questions such as "tell me about yourself." Such questions allow the candidate to talk about anything he or she pleases, but the candidate should remember that his responses should focus on his strengths and why he would be the best option to fill the available position. One can expect the employer to ask about instances of success in the workplace as well as failures, and the candidate should be prepared to discuss how those successes and failures made him a better candidate for the current position.