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Telephone Interviews

 
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PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2003 8:26 am    Post subject: Telephone Interviews Reply with quote

Does anyone have any advice for telephone interviews? I think I can manage to smile down the phone, but feel a bit put off by not being in a face to face scenario. Any tips??
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Kent F. Kruhoeffer



Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Posts: 2129
Location: 中国

PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2003 9:44 am    Post subject: ET phone home Reply with quote

Hi katy:

Hope you had a nice 3-day weekend?! I have a terrible sun-burn from my weekend on the Volga, but it was worth it. Cool

OK; down to business. I've been on both ends of the telephone interview over the years; as a teacher looking for a job, and more recently as DOS at the school I work for now, talking with prospective job applicants.

A smile, even a sense of humour, as you mentioned, is ALWAYS a good thing to bring to the table, (or the telephone) if you can pull it off while still maintaining a generally professional and sincere attitude.

More importantly, especially on the telephone ... is the goal of being clearly understood by the person on the other end. I'm talking about articulating and enunciating your words, speaking clearly and slowly, exactly as though you were in a classroom full of new students. Please ... don't make the tragic mistake of assuming that the person you're talking to is fluent in English!!!

Quite often, the person on the other end of the phone will be a non-native English speaker, and for these people in particular, you can take the above advice to the bank.

Other than that, just try to relax and be yourself. Having a glass of water nearby helps a lot in case you get nervous or cotton-mouth.

And finally, it's a VERY good idea for you to have one or 2 questions prepared to ask in return. If you ask nothing, you may be seen as lacking confidence, or perhaps even not terribly interested in the position. What really impresses HR people is when it's clear to them (by virtue of your good & relevant questions) that you've done a little research into their school, and/or city, and/or academic program in general.

If the job is what you really want, it pays to do a little homework and show 'em what you're made of.

Good luck, katy Exclamation

kenT
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PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2003 10:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Kent, your words of wisdom are much appreciated.

Sorry to hear about your sunburn. Fat chance of that happening here. The sun only shone on one of my three days. Sad
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ls650



Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia

PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2003 11:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some typical questions:

- why do you want to teach?
- why do you want to work overseas?
- why do you want to work here in country X?
- tell me a little about yourself?
- tell me about your last job?
- have you previously taught overseas? what was that like?
- do you have any questions for us?
etc.

I would recommend that you sit down before the interview and scratch out on paper the answers to these questions so that you have some idea how to reply ahead of time.

Good luck with your interview?
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PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2003 12:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Did not really go as I'd expected. I asked plenty of questions and was asked only a couple like:
What kind of kids did you teach in Japan?
Do you know we don't have those kind of kids here?

Still, she was responsive to all my questions and hopefully I gave her plenty of reasons to hire me. Thanks both of you. Special thanks to Kent for the glass of water. That really helped. I'll let you know how I get on.

Now I can press on with enjoying my weekend. Did I mention I've got three days?
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