15 Phone Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

Phone interviews are fairly common during the hiring process and are often used by recruiters to perform an initial screening before you get to the hiring manager. This varies by company – some don’t have phone interviews, while others could have multiple rounds. Phone interviews are now even more common due to the quarantine measures driven by COVID-19.

Phone interviews can often add another layer of complexity because you cannot see the body language of your interviewer and have to rely on the tone of their voice to make sure they are engaged and are interested in your answers. A benefit of doing a phone interview is that you can use notes to refresh your memory about the work experience you have; however, don’t make it obvious by reading straight from a script.

Here are 15 questions that you will commonly get during a phone interview.

1. Tell me about yourself

This is usually the first question you will get during a phone interview because it’s a simple way for them to get to know you. While this question seems straight forward, most people get it all wrong and babble on and on about things the interviewer doesn’t care about. This is not a time to simply walk through your resume and recite everything you have done.

Your response to the question must explain your narrative that you have already used to write your resume. You were chosen to interview for the job based on the narrative you portrayed on your resume, so keep using it. This narrative tells the interviewer that you are the ________ who can help their company ________. To find the narrative, read through the job posting several times and picture what a perfect candidate would look like to the hiring manager.

If you want to use the narrative, “I am the excel wizard who can automate your business processes,” pick out the relevant experience that supports this message. Nailing this question will more than likely move you to the top of the candidate list and make the rest of the questions seem less important.

2. Why are you applying for this position?

You are almost guaranteed to get this question and you should have a good answer ready. Your response will tell the interviewer if you are serious about the position or not. To answer, explain how the company or position aligns with your career goals. Your answer should never be about money, hours, title, location, etc. and you should never talk negative about your current employer. Doing a lot of research about the company and the position shows that you are serious about wanting to work there.

3. Tell me what you know about the role

Doing a lot of research about the company and the position shows that you are serious about wanting to work there. It also tells the interviewer if he needs to spend time explaining what the company does or what you would be doing in the position. To go above and beyond, reach out to current employees and ask them questions that you genuinely have and make sure to bring that up during the interview. Doing that will help you stand out above the other candidates.

4. Why do you want to work here?

This question is somewhat similar to questions #2 and #3. Do your research and explain how working at the company will help you achieve your career goals. Your answer to this question will tell the interviewer if you would be a good culture fit within the company. This is another good time to reach out to current employees and ask them why they like working there. In addition, make sure to look at the company’s social media, current news about the company, and the company’s Glassdoor reviews.

5. Why are you looking to leave your current job?

This question tells the interviewer if you are “running away from your current job” or “running towards a new opportunity.” What’s the difference? Generally, if you are running away from your current job, that suggests that you are fed up about the hours, pay, stress, challenges and are looking for a job with better hours, pay, less stress, and fewer challenges. This is generally not a good way to frame your answer.

On the flip side, running towards a new challenge shows that moving to the company will help you achieve your career goals; therefore, this is how you want to frame your answer to this question. Focus on your career growth instead of personal reasons and do not say anything negative about your current employer.

6. What are you passionate about? (what motivates you?)

For this question, you can talk about something career related that you are hoping to achieve, or you can talk about something like a hobby or a volunteer experience that you enjoy doing. This is a great way for the interviewer to get to know you beyond the skills you can bring to the job. This is a great culture fit question, so for example, if you like to volunteer at Habit for Humanity and you read that the company is a big sponsor of that organization, be sure to bring that up during the interview

7. Are you interviewing with other companies?

It is best to be honest about your answer to this question. If you are interviewing with other companies, then simply say yes you are and list the companies. They might follow up and ask you about what stage of the hiring process you are at with those companies. This tells them if they will need to move you quickly through their hiring process so that you don’t take one of their competitor’s offers.

8. When are you looking to start?

Seems like an easy question, however, make sure the date you give is actually realistic. First, check how long of a notice you have to give your current employer. The most common notice is two weeks; however, it can be longer depending on the amount of responsibility you have to transfer over to someone else. Remember, you do not want to burn any bridges with your current employer because it can haunt you later in life. Don’t just expect to walk out the door and hope that someone else can pick up what you were working on without giving them a brief training.

Another factor to think about is if you want to have a gap between your current job and the start of the new one. If you are relocating to a new city, you should take some time to wander around and get to know the city. This is also a good time to take a nice vacation and rejuvenate before you start working again.

9. Tell me more about…

You will most certainly get a few of these questions during your interview. This is when the interviewer will ask you some more questions about a specific item on your resume. “Tell me about this excel model you developed during your internship.” All you have to do is walk them though the experience they called out. The best way to prepare for these questions is to know your resume very well.

10. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

This is a great question that will show the interviewer if you are career growth focused and if you are planning on staying with the company for a while. Pick out something that you hope to accomplish while at the company and describe the steps you need to take to achieve it. If your goal is to become a manager in 5 years, then talk about the experience you need to gain and the challenges you need to overcome in order to get to a manager position. You should always expect to get this question during an interview.

11. What are your greatest strengths?

This is another very common question and one that is often handled incorrectly. You should have at least three strengths prepared with great examples that demonstrate these strengths. Do not say something generic like, “I am a hard worker” or “I can multi-task.” Study the job posting and envision what a perfect employee would look like to the hiring manager. Think deep and ask yourself what separates you from the other candidates.

12. What are some of your weaknesses?

If they ask you about your strengths, they will definitely follow up by asking about your weaknesses. This is an important question for hiring managers because it shows them if you are self-aware about your abilities and what you are actively doing to improve yourself. This can be a tricky question because you don’t want to eliminate yourself from being a good candidate. The trick is to choose a weakness that isn’t too generic and won’t hurt your chances of getting the job. If your interviewing for a sales job, you shouldn’t say that you’re not a great communicator; that is certainly a big red flag. You should say something like you struggle with time management because you sometimes speak with clients for too long, which makes you work longer hours than the rest of the team. Then discuss what you are doing to correct that weakness.

13. What are your salary requirements?

You might get this question during an initial phone screen. This will let the recruiter know if you are within their budget range. Do your research by looking at glassdoor.com and come up with a range that you think is right for the amount of experience you have.

14. Why are you the best candidate for this job? (Why should we hire you?)

This question gives you one last chance to sell yourself to the interviewer. You should use your resume narrative to format your answer to this question. Again, study the job posting and envision what a perfect employee would look like to the hiring manager. Pick out something you have accomplished that none of the other candidates have done.

15. Do you have any questions for me?

Finally, you can breathe a sigh of relief. At the end of the interview, you will often be asked if you have any questions for them. You should have at least 3-5 high quality questions that can’t be easily googled. Asking good questions shows that you were engaged and actively listening during the interview. You should always end the interview with “When might I hear back from you regarding the next steps in the process?”