You may be a whizz at the stove, or fabulous front of house, but if you have a terrible telephone manner you might never even get to interview stage never mind get the chance to show off your skills. That’s because at some point in your job-hunt you will probably be invited to give a telephone or private interview.

That said, there’s evidence that 80% of jobs are won or lost during the first five minutes of the conversation, so you need to prepare thoroughly. Keep reading for advice on how to polish up your telephone skills, organise your ideas, deal with tricky questions and practise useful techniques to raise your chances of success.

Preparation

Rule number one is to make sure you’ve put the correct contact details on your CV. Needless to say, employers won’t waste time trying to contact you if you’ve changed your phone number or moved house.

In fact, you need to be on the ball from the moment you start applying for your job abroad, because a recruiter might call at any point to ask if you have a few minutes to talk. The key is to stay cool. If it isn't convenient, ask if you could talk at another time - and suggest some alternatives.

For this reason, it’s also important that you make sure your answer phone greeting is professional. An HR manager is unlikely to be inspired to leave a message regarding that high-powered executive chef role if they hear “I’m either out fishing, playing golf or at the bar… so leave a message”...

 Practise your telephone skills

 

It doesn’t matter whether you work back-of-house or front-of-house, employers in the hospitality industry want staff with personality who can communicate confidently and comfortably. So, you can bet they are going to be assessing your interpersonal skills. It’s crucial, therefore, to assess your telephone style and correct bad speech habits. Either get a friend to ring and ask mock interview questions or tape yourself giving answers. 

 

So what to watch out for? Well, don’t fall into the trap of thinking a telephone interview is casual. It’s important that you sound professional and confident throughout the call. It’s also crucial that you don’t start waffling; neither should you just give yes or no answers. And watch out for those dreaded ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’.  You don’t have to speak like the Queen, but you do need to enunciate clearly and avoid using slang or fillers such as ‘like’ and ‘you know’. 

What you do need to do is to project a positive attitude - which admittedly is a bit difficult as the interviewer can’t see your body language. Ironically, a foolproof technique is to smile while you talk as it helps to convey enthusiasm.

 The interview

For the interview itself, you need to be comfortable. Research shows that people often sound more professional when standing up, but if you feel less stressed sitting down then go with that. Either way, you need to sort it out before the interview itself.

Strange as it sounds, it’s also a good idea to dress smartly. Obviously the telephone interviewer can’t see you, but it’s harder to feel - and therefore sound - professional if you’re wearing your gym kit.

If you are being interviewed over your landline, don’t forget to switch off your mobile phone and disable the call-waiting feature on your telephone. Never use speaker-phone. If you use a cordless phone make sure the batteries are charged but always avoid using a mobile phone as poor reception can ruin what might otherwise have been a good interview. It’s also important that you choose a room that is free of distractions.

At the start of the phone interview, confirm the caller’s name and company and jot down their telephone number. It’s a good idea to create a phone interview log as a record and keep a notebook handy. Only use first names if they ask you to.

In short:

• Smile because it makes you sound more positive
• Give short, clear answers and never interrupt
• Don’t use a mobile phone and never put the interviewer on hold or speaker phone
• Find a comfortable area away from distractions

 Use notes

Of course, the great advantage of the interviewer not being able to see you is that you can spread out your notes and pull up the hotel or resort website. Use memory aids such as flashcards to remind you of key achievements, questions, and so on. Jot down some short phrases in bullet point form to remind you of a particular challenge. Make sure you can talk about how you dealt with it and what results you achieved. It’s not a good idea to rehearse too much, though, as you will sound unnatural.

Keep a copy of your CV close, too, so you can look up details of past employment, training or work experience.

In short: Pull up the company website on your computer in advance of the call and spread your notes around you – including your CV  

Dealing with tricky moments

Perhaps the most uncomfortable telephone moments are silences. If you’ve finished answering a question, but the interviewer hasn’t asked you another one, don’t be tempted to fill the gap with garbled chatter. If it does drag on, you could always ask the interviewer a related question about the job.

If you are hearing impaired

You need to email the employer beforehand if you are hard of hearing. Most interviewers will be happy to make alternative arrangements to accommodate your condition. 

At the end…

Don’t forget to ask what the next step in the process is and thank the interviewer by name. It’s also a good idea to follow up with a thank you letter, to confirm your interest in the job.

Another handy tip is to quickly job down some notes about what you were asked and how you answered as soon as you put the phone down. That way, you can learn how to improve your telephone interview technique.

If you follow this advice and stay calm, you will sail through even the toughest phone interview.  

Interview tips and advice

 

How to handle an interview

 

It’s what you’ve been working towards - you’ve written the perfect CV and cover letter and you’ve made it through to interview stage.

 

Now what?

 

Well, now is your chance to show your prospective employer exactly why they should give you the job. Obviously, as you are applying for a job abroad the stakes are high. It could be that the employer has flown over to the to do a series of interviews. Or maybe they have flown you over to meet them. Either way, there is a lot riding on how well you conduct yourself, so read on for some useful tips on what to do – and what not to do…UK

 

Dealing with nerves

Unless you are a stunningly cool person, you will inevitably feel nervous before an interview. Unfortunately, none of us perform naturally or creatively when we are anxious, but the good news is that there are techniques you can use before and during the interview to combat nerves.

Just before the interview, clench your left fist for 30 seconds or more. This activates circuits in the brain's right hemisphere that enhance your ability to reach decisions and calm unpleasant emotions.

Then, visualise what you want to achieve in two years' time. This will help you to crystallise what your ambitions are and you’ll find that your anxiety will lessen and your confidence will increase.

 

It also helps if you rehearse giving answers to questions that relate to your attributes, limitations, preferences and values – but visualise the person asking the questions as being someone you trust and like.

 

Get your body language under control

 

Yes, it’s true. Actions speak louder than words. If you gesticulate wildly, twitch, avoid eye contact, jut your chin or behave in any other exaggerated way you will undoubtedly create an unattractive – and possibly unfair – image of your self.

 

Body language is used to express both conscious and subconscious thoughts, and can be as warm as a friendly glance - or as rude as turning your back on someone. It’s crucial, therefore, that you understand how to use your body language to positive effect.

 

One trick is to ask a friend to identify any peculiar habits you might have – watch out for tapping feet, drumming fingers or playing with your hair. If you’ve got time, get your friend to video you giving a mock interview. That way you will see how your body language changes when you are under pressure or answering tricky questions.  

Confident people tend to have an open, friendly manner so another technique is to observe their behaviour – and then emulate it. Usually this method helps you to avoid sending mixed messages, too.

 

During the interview, you can create rapport with the interviewer by maintaining good eye contact and looking interested and alert. Don’t stare, though, as you will end up coming across as mad, bad or dangerous to know. Some experts also advise mirroring the way your interviewer is sitting and breathing but you need to be careful that you don’t get caught out.

 

Above all, don’t sway, tap your feet or hands, or touch your face, and avoid playing with pens, paper or anything else unnecessary as these all betray your nerves.

 

Last but not least, practise your handshake.  You need to aim for a cool hand, firm grasp and good eye contact to create the best impression.

 

In short:

• Smile when you enter the interview room and maintain lots of eye contact throughout the interview
• Give a firm handshake as this shows you are confident
• Wait to be offered a seat and allow your interviewer to sit first
• If you are offered a drink it is wise to accept water as you can sip it if you dry up and it’s less fiddly than tea or coffee
• Look and sound enthusiastic and alert
• Maintain an open upright sitting position and lean forward slightly
• Speak clearly and loudly
• Think before answering questions. Listen carefully and don’t talk too much
• Keep a comfortable distance from your interviewer
• Do not slouch, fidget, scratch you ears or cover your mouth with your hands or fingers - or cross your arms in front of you

 Dress to impress

Although the interviewer is assessing you on your CV, experience and skills they will nevertheless form an opinion almost immediately based on your dress and body language. We’ve already shown you how to improve your body language, but it’s crucial if you are going for a job in the hospitality industry that you are well presented with crisply ironed clothes, combed hair, polished shoes, clean nails and so on. If the journey to the interview is likely to be long and sticky, check out in advance if there is a public facility nearby where you can wash and change before the interview.

 

Take note that no matter how casual the operation is, you should always dress smartly and professionally for the interview. If you dress to show respect you will be respected in turn.

In short

• Dress professionally. An interviewer will respond more positively to you and an employer is more likely to recruit someone who will best represent their company
• Ensure you have clean shoes, hair, nails and so on

 Plan your Journey

You really don’t want to arrive late for your interview. If you are nervous beforehand, just imagine how stressed you’ll be if you can’t find the address or miss that vital train – which is quite likely in an unfamiliar country or city. Fortunately, it’s quite easy to make sure no such disaster occurs.

The main thing is to get clear directions either from checking the hotel or restaurant’s details on the internet or from the HR department. Then plan your route, factoring in extra time for any potential delays.

It will also help if you aim to arrive at the interview 10 minutes early, this will prove your punctuality and time-keeping skills, as well as giving you time to freshen up and gather your thoughts.

Make sure you have the name and contact number of the person you are reporting to for interview. This avoids any unprofessional confusion when you arrive and also means that if for some unforeseen reason you are delayed, you can immediately ring to apologise and explain. Should it be obvious that you will arrive very late, you may need to reconfirm that they still want you to keep the appointment. If they don’t, suggest other dates and times when you are available.

The interview

It would be very unusual if the interviewer didn’t spend a few minutes asking you about your journey, the traffic, the weather or other pleasantries before kicking into the formal interview. Be aware that although it helps you both to relax, this informal chat is still part of the interview and you will be assessed on the way you answer. 

A big mistake many people make at this stage is to become over familiar or over friendly. You’ll also get off to a bad start if you they ramble on about how you got lost or stuck in terrible traffic. It’s much better to give short, friendly answers that hint at how well organized you are. For instance, by all means mention that the traffic was bad, but add that you had already factored that into planning your journey so it worked out well.

As you are applying for an international job, it is likely that you are being interviewed for a senior position. In that case, it is not unreasonable to address the interviewer by their first name if they use yours – or at least ask them how they would like to be addressed. If in doubt, don’t address your interviewer by their first name even if they use yours. The culture in many countries outside the - not to mention in large hotel groups – is formal, so it can be safer to use Mr, Mrs or Ms or any other relevant title depending on the nationality of your interviewer.UK

Be reassured that an interview isn't all about giving the right answers - in many cases there isn't a one. What’s more important is that you come across as confident, genuine and, of course, talented.

In short

• Be confident and sell yourself without being arrogant
• Let the interviewer lead the interview
• Remember to switch off your mobile