If you are looking for a job in Alberta and you live in another province or country you may have to do interviews over the telephone. In this guide we will give you some helpful pointers on conducting interviews over the phone.
If you are looking for a job in the Alberta oil field but don’t live anywhere close to Alberta at the time of your job search you may be asked to do a telephone interview or have a pre-interview over the phone. This guide will give you some helpful tips on conducting a successful interview over the phone.
Prepare for an interview over the telephone just like a regular face to face interview; familiarize yourself with the job you are applying for as well as the company. Keep in mind moments of silence over the telephone are much more awkward then they are face to face.
Set a date and time that works for you as well as the interviewer and don’t be late, if you miss the interviewer’s phone call they may not call back. Keep in mind that if you are forced to do a phone interview there will be a good chance you will be in a different time zone then the interviewer and scheduling another interview could be difficult if you miss the original phone call.
When doing a phone interview make sure you let people know that you will be busy and not to disturb you. Turn off your call waiting if you can or have it forwarded to your voicemail. Tell your spouse/kids/parents not to disturb you or the phone lines until you are finished your interview. Being disrupted by another phone call or someone picking up the phone on another handset looks very unprofessional during an interview.
Do not use a speakerphone to conduct your interview. Speakerphones generally do not sound very good and are quite annoying to the person conducting the interview, this could potentially be a major turnoff to your would be employer.
While doing a phone interview it would be a good idea to keep notes of potential questions and answers in front of you. One very big pro to doing phone interviews is that you are able to have notes in front of you and are able to browse them freely without worrying about making eye contact with interviewer.
It is very important that you are upfront and clear with the interviewer during the interview and able to ask any questions you may have. The interviewer should realize that you will be making great compromises for your new job, such as moving to a new city, province, or country, and will need to know as much about your future job as possible.
Here are some articles about the job profiles in the oil industry: