A phone interview is often the first gateway to pass through when you’re being evaluated for a job. And it’s much more than a mere formality. If you don’t perform well during the initial phone interview, there’s little hope of moving on to the next steps! So, how can you make sure you crush your next phone interview? Here are our top five tips:

Talk in a controlled environment.

Choose a tidy and quiet area in which to take your phone interview. Make sure that children, pets, and other distractions can’t get in. Make sure that everyone in your home is aware of the time of your interview so there are no interruptions. And even if the interviewer tells you the call will only last 15 minutes, it’s a good idea to carve out more time just in case you hit it off and talk longer.

Prepare questions ahead of time.

It’s a good idea to have questions prepared ahead of time for your phone interview, as it is for in-person interviews. Write them down or print them out so you have them in front of you. It’s always impressive to recruiters and hiring managers when the candidate has plenty of good questions for them.

Smile.

It might sound strange to smile during a phone interview, but it makes a real difference. When you’re enthusiastic and excited, it comes through in your voice. The person on the other end of the line can tell if you’re disinterested or ingenuine. Pretend you’re talking face-to-face and use those body language skills — you’ll be surprised at the difference.

Keep your resume in front of you.

It’s a good idea to print out a copy of your resume, as well as your cover letter and any correspondence you’ve had with the interviewer, and have them in front of you while you’re on the phone. That way, you can reference key points at a moment’s notice and see exactly what the interviewer is seeing in real-time.

End the call with a “thank you.”

As you would with any interview, in-person or otherwise, always end the call with a sincere “thank you.” And you might even consider sending a follow-up “thank you” email a few hours after the call. It keeps you at the top of the interviewer’s mind and reinforces your interest in the position. If you’re interested in a new position and you’re ready to see what’s out there, take a look at our Jobs page here. And contact ARMstaffing to find out how we can help you in your career.