The first step to getting a decent job is to develop a professional resume. By "professional" we mean the one that will be attractive for hiring authorities meeting all requirements and specification. As soon as you have your professional resume ready and after you post it online to find employment you will likely be invited for an interview. However, today you might have a phone screening interview before you actually get to a real interview meeting. Most job seekers prepare for meetings, but very few of them are prepared well enough to successfully pass a phone interview.
Understand the Purpose, Cover the Basics, and Show the Interest
In order to succeed during a so-called phone screening interview, you have to understand the purpose of the one calling. Then you will be able to know what to say and prepare the right strategy for the conversation. The thing that some job seekers forget is that the people who do this phone screening interviews are interested in you having the position (that's because most of them are compensated on the basis of the ability to find people). So don't hesitate to ask for any clarifications or even recommendations if the flow of conversation allows doing so. Remember, that any interview is all mostly about your personality and enthusiasm to take the job. It should give you a boost of confidence to be who you are. Just because the one calling is interested in your success doesn't mean that you can relax and don't bother preparing the call. Although recruiters will unlikely ask you nitty-gritty details of your qualifications you still have to be ready to cover the basic requirements. In order to do that you have to know what is required to get hired. Such information can usually be found within the job advertisements.
Another source of useful information is among those who work in the company. Out of this kind of information you are to outline the most important deliverables for the position and then mention those during a phone screening interview. Having demonstrated to a recruiter that you are a good match for the opening you still have to show that you really want the job. Even if you have a skill set required to fill in the position but hiring authorities don't feel that you are really interested in the job you will unlikely get the job. Employers need to know that they are hiring someone who is enthusiastic and eager to learn more in order to perform well. If you fail to make that clear during the screening call to an interviewer then you will make things much more complicated for yourself and for the one calling.
