How to Not Eliminate Yourself during the Job Interview and Screening Process

Have you applied for a job lately? How about more than one job? If you are currently seeking employment, you may already know that a big part of the interview process is the screening process in which an employer will reach out to you to ask a few questions prior to scheduling an interview with you.

The screening process and/or first phase of an interview may be done telephonically as opposed to face to face. There are a few things that you will want to do to make yourself that much more appealing to a potential employer.

Here are a few recommendations to prepare you for that phone call with a potential employer.

If you are searching for employment, it is highly likely that you have applied for more than one job in your field. If this is indeed the case, make sure that you don't complete this action passively. What does this mean? Manage your applications like you might your checkbook. Keep an informal tracking log of the applications that you have submitted to prospective employers and review it periodically.

If an employer contacts you about your resume for a job that you actually posted your resume for and verbalizes interest in inviting you to participate in an interview, you should easily recall the position that you applied for during the conversation. The inability to acknowledge your submission of an application for the job role or recall whether or not you actually applied can send a signal of disinterest, apathy and even a degree of unprofessionalism to the employer.

Be available for the interview process. Know your availability and share that with the interviewer. If you are unavailable at the proposed interview time, ask for another time that is convenient. Do not complain about the time of day in which you are being asked to interview or suggest that the requested time slot does not fit into your "favorite time of day" to interview with a potential employer.

It is highly likely that although the organization is anxious to hire a qualified individual for the role, the interviewing manager is having to fit you into his/her very busy schedule. Interviews are not "a typical part of the day' at work for most managers. Therefore, you want to make the impression that you are a flexible to the employer's schedule.

Typically during the initial screening phone call, the manager or human resources representative will ask you a few questions about the following:

• Your experience/background that makes you qualified for the role
• Interest in the role
• Salary requirements
• Availability for interviews

This is your opportunity to really toot your own horn so to speak about:

• Your background
• Your interest in the role
• Salary negotiability
• Flexibility with proposed interview times

Although preliminary phone screens are not the official interview, it is your opportunity to make a first impression and should be treated as gold if you have a genuine interest in the position you are being contacted about filling. These screening calls are sometimes used to weed out some applicants.

Make sure that you are in an environment that allows you to speak clearly and freely at a normal volume for the person on the other end of the line. If you find yourself hunched in a cubicle at your current job or in a restroom stall speaking at a whisper, keep in mind that this may create another impression of not being so dynamic in nature when compared to other applicants who had the ability to sell themselves.