How To Ace Phone Interviews For Legal Positions

Interviews by themselves are hard. Phone interviews are even harder — you can’t see your interviewer’s responses, and the medium is artificial.

Below are 5 concrete steps you must take to ace this kind of interview:

1. Keep your answers short. How short? Think 60 to 90 seconds. Anticipate likely questions, and practice answers with a stopwatch.
2. Take the call standing. You must convey energy, and sitting saps you of that.
3. Smile when talking. The phone deadens all answers, but the interviewer can hear a smile in your voice when you physically do it. Vary your rhythm and volume to avoid putting anyone to sleep.
4. Don’t talk when the interviewer is talking. This seems obvious, but often lawyers are cutting people off to get their points in. On this call, you talk, but then stop when the other person is talking.
5. Tailor your answers based on research on the company and the job. Know the job description, about the company, its competitive landscape, and the bio of the interviewer. Based on this research, you can guess what the top 3 concerns and interests of the interviewer are.
6. Remember: your goal is to be invited in to the company to meet in person. The interviewer has a very basic checklist of skills and personality traits that he or she is looking for. Guessing what the checklist consists of is not rocket science! Prepare ahead of time not only the substance but also the delivery, which is half the battle here. If the employer has agreed to speak to you, you have a shot at the job.