Phone Interview

Morzas · Post by **Morzas** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:08 pm

I'm applying for a job and I guess they liked my resume enough to offer me a phone interview. This is my first time doing this kind of thing. What am I supposed to do in the phone interview?

RiotGearEpsilon · Post by **RiotGearEpsilon** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:50 pm

Depends on the field and the job. What's the job in?

Morzas · Post by **Morzas** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:55 pm

It's an entry-level position, a Game Tester. Not glamorous, but better than my current state of unemployment.

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:03 pm

Well, the first thing is that you can dress at what is your most comfortable.

If this means, cheetos stained underwear, sure. Just don't tell them or us.

Unlike a regular interview where you aren't allowed to have a computer or a reference book at hand, here you do have it. You'll just have to make sure that they aren't aware of typing or pages being flicked. Be as prepared as you would be for a normal interviews.

But there are some cons to this as well. At a face-to-face interview you can usually see visual cues that can help you. Here it isn't that easy.
Your voice is the only thing that can show your confidence. So, uhing and umming is actually a big and bad deal in this situation.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:13 pm

You'll just have to make sure that they aren't aware of typing or pages being flicked

Why the hell not?

It's likely you'll have access to real-time reference in the position, so if you need to use such real-time reference during the interview, explain that you are using such as you do so, because not doing so is failing to use available resources.

K · Post by K » Fri Feb 10, 2012 6:40 am

Smile while you are talking on the phone. It's an old sales trick.

Also, try to be somewhere quiet with no distractions. Don't watch TV or try to multitask.

Otherwise, it's like any interview: convince them you're bright and not a pain in the ass.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 7:36 am

How do you give a blowjob over the phone?

Post by **fbmf** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:51 am

You mean you don't know?

Game On,
fbmf

Whatever · Post by **Whatever** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:10 pm

A brief pause in a real conversation is totally normal, they can see you thinking. On a phone interview, ten seconds of silence is an eternity, so be careful.

As with any interview, figure out what they want and present yourself in the way that best matches that.

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 4:10 pm

Koumei wrote:How do you give a blowjob over the phone?

The same way you peg the interviewer over the phone.

fectin · Post by **fectin** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 1:30 am

This may be a bit after the fact, but...

Cynic wrote:Well, the first thing is that you can dress at what is your most comfortable.

This is bad advice. Sure you can get away with it, but it'll hurt more than it helps. Dressing professional makes you act professional, so go ahead and dress up some for your phone interview. I find shoes make the most difference, but YMMV.

Similarly, wake up early that morning and eat breakfast. Doesn't have to be before dawn or anything, just don't sleep in.

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 11:29 pm

Sometimes the current usage of 'phone interview' has come to mean a video conference. I mean, you'll know beforehand, but it's possible any aspirations to be nude in front of potential employers may have to be put on hold. I agree with dressing as if it's an in person interview; adopting the trappings of a situation is the easiest way to get in the proper headspace.

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 12:15 am

I do agree that professionalism is something that should be maintained at all times. But this also goes with the idea about what the job is going to be. As a video game tester, is the dress code going to be formal? It could be but it's really strange to see a bunch of testers playing 8 hour shifts of Mass effect 5 in white shirt binary tie shouting at each other.

Ravengm · Post by **Ravengm** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 7:08 pm

Dress codes at software-related companies are usually pretty lax. "Business casual" is probably the strictest you'll get, sometimes edging down towards "don't be naked."

Morzas · Post by **Morzas** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:02 am

I stuttered and paused a lot in the phone interview. I think I was a little uncomfortable because I was wearing the suit. But, they called me in for the office interview. Thanks for all of your advice, if you have any advice on job interviews in the real world, that'd be appreciated too -- I've never been interviewed by a large company before (I won't say who they are right now, I get the feeling I'm not supposed to do that.)

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 7:46 am

Morzas wrote:I stuttered and paused a lot in the phone interview. I think I was a little uncomfortable because I was wearing the suit. But, they called me in for the office interview. Thanks for all of your advice, if you have any advice on job interviews in the real world, that'd be appreciated too -- I've never been interviewed by a large company before (I won't say who they are right now, I get the feeling I'm not supposed to do that.)

You're not going to be interviewed by "a large company". You're going to be interviewed by a dude or a lady who works for a large company and is stuck interviewing game testers, which is seriously no different* from a small company except they might have a shinier office and better infrastructure. And personal quirks aside, they would want to know two things: whether you're capable of doing the job (which in this case means "not a fucktard"), and whether you're at least tolerable.

*The drawback here is that a large company's interviewer might be an HR fucktard totally divorced from real work, checking for nebulous qualities based on a poorly-written and poorly-understood memo.

Wear business casual. T-shirt and jeans can be perceived as trying too hard or "ironic", and no one likes hipsters (especially other hipsters).

As for getting advice, read Read Well-Cultured Anonymous and read/listen to whatever people say to you personally, if only to tell them to help themselves to a barrel. Don't bother with generic impersonal shit (not because we are any good at interviews, but because by listening to live people only you're reducing the pool of advice to a manageable size).

Now, specific pitfalls.

1. Game testers come in two varieties: statistics monkeys (including advanced statistics monkeys who are capable of scientifically tracking bugs) and would-be marketers who can say things like "well it was fine by me, but other people might have a problem here". And if they are an amateur psych looking for a pack of monkeys (say, to produce 4e-grade feedback and blame piracy when the game fails) and you "overstep your bounds", they'll tell you to gtfo and hire a stupid button-masher instead. So talk to the interviewer if you get the chance - you'll minimize the risk of misunderstanding and make a more lively impression overall.

2. Don't be overexcited about the perspective of getting the job or they assume you think you'll be playing games for fun.