I've been a Full-time Recruiter for almost 3 years (more if you include my internship). Basically, I do a whole lot of interviewing both on the phone and in-person. Although, I'm not the main decision maker on deciding who gets hired at my company, I'm the 1st person you need to impress.
I phone interview everyone. If I don't like you or think that you are even remotely likeable, well you'll never hear from me ever again. Plain and simple.
Much like 1st impressions, you have a small window during your phone interview to impress the recruiter. Heck, sometimes I'll know whether your a yes or a no the minute you speak. Most of the time, I'll write a big fat NO on your resume before we even get a chance to get through even half of the interview. Even though recruiters know right away whether you're a yes or a no as a courtesy we'll continue to talk to you for another 5-10minutes. That's just how it is.
Anyways, my tip or pointer for the day is RESEARCH THE COMPANY! Sure, recruiters will catch you off guard and call you at the absolute worst time. It happens all the time. That doesn't mean that you have to take the call right then and there, recruiters are perfectly fine with calling you back at another time when you can put your best face forward. So, simply ask if it's okay to schedule for another time so that you can give them the utmost attention. Trust me, it's much better than doing a phone interview when your distracted, walking down the street, driving, eating dinner, or having pets barking in the background.
One of my biggest pet peeve when recruiting is when I reschedule the phone interview and I ask them what they know about the company and they simply say that they don't know. No matter how you say it, it'll irritate me. It doesn't take long to do a quick search on Google and just quickly glance at the companies website. Seriously, take the 2 minutes to do it. It'll make a difference.
Moral of the story. Phone interviews are as important. I digress on that.
While we are on the subject of impressions... let's briefly go over 1st impressions.
People say you only have a few seconds to make a good 1st impression. To be exact, you have 7 seconds to impress someone. You are judged immediately based on how you look, your handshake, how you interact with everyone, basically EVERYTHING!
You may think 7 seconds? That's bogus. Well it's true. ACCEPT IT!
Check out these articles on the topic:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/2011/02/13/seven-seconds-to-make-a-first-impression/
http://www.businessinsider.com/only-7-seconds-to-make-first-impression-2013-4
The articles may be old but the context remains true. You have 7 seconds, make it count.
I hope someone somewhere out there finds this information useful.
Goodnight world.
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