A Complete Guide To Successfully Passing A Phone Screen (& The Top 10 Questions PhDs Are Asked During Phone Interviews)

20 May 2020 14:00 - 15:00

Eastern Time (US & Canada) (UTC -05:00)

The in-pandemic and post-pandemic job market has increased demands on job candidates in terms of their performance during phone screens. The phone screen is the first "real" screening step whereby out of every 525 job candidates who submit a resume, an average of only 6-12 receive a request for a phone screen, and only 2-3 who are screened move forward to a video interview or site visit. How quickly and how correctly you respond to a phone screen request can determine whether or not the phone screen will go well. Likewise, the questions you ask at the end of the phone screen and the very last sentence you say can determine whether or not you will move forward to the next interview stage. Thus, from beginning to end, your contact with an employer about the phone screen is a crucial process that all technical job candidates must understand. Moreover, the technical candidate must understand *how* to speak with the caller, who most often is a non-technical hiring manager and front-line gatekeeper tasked with screening out technical candidates who come across as "arrogant, awkward, or defensive", or who come across as a "student" or a "people pleaser". Data from interviews with hundreds of technology, engineering, optical and biotechnology employers will be discussed, including which 10 questions are most commonly asked by phone screeners.