How to Succeed in a Phone Interview

While it's hard to imagine that a phone interview is just like any other interview, it essentially is.  There isn't much of a difference, except that interviewers and interviewees can't view each other.  Here are a couple things to remember to help ensure that you'll ace that phone interview, along with any other interview for that matter.

• Personality: A couple of attributes that make any interviewee a joy to interview is being personable.  That means smiling- and yes, people can hear you smile over the phone.  It's not about slapping a smile on your face just so that your voice sounds different over the phone.  Just try to relax, be yourself, be calm, and be honest (but not self-deprecating) and don't make too many jokes.
• Promptness: It is just as important to be on-time and ready to go during a phone interview as it is for an in-person interview.  That being said, if you have a phone interview in the morning, wake up plenty of time before the phone interview, because just like people can see sleep-crust in your eyes, they can hear morning-grog in your voice when you just wake up (which is just as unpleasant to encounter).
• Clarity: In any interview, it's imperative to be clear, but brief, when answering any questions, while making sure to give some interesting detail.  However, when interviewing over the phone, the importance of being clear doubles because 1) it's usually easier for people to understand what you're saying when they can also see your facial expressions and 2) it's more difficult for the interviewer to gain clarity from asking you follow-up questions because they can't see you pause or stop talking (aka, they don't want to interrupt!).  The best thing for you to do is, at the end of answering a question, to ask, "Did that answer your question?"  Also, it's okay to pause, but don't be quiet for an eternity.  You can say something like, "Hmm, let me think about that for a second" if you need to gather your thoughts before answering a question.  It's totally okay to take a minute to answer a question thoughtfully and clearly.  If you're nervous, that's okay, it's normal.  If you start stuttering or rambling, just try to laugh it off while literally apologizing and acknowledging that you're nervous.  Stop, take a breath, and think before you say anything! 

I hope that helped!  Best of luck with your interviews!
-Seghel