Tips to prepare for a phone interview!
Here is a detailed information about the best practices for a phone interview with the fortune 500 companies. I have added a few details specific to Google but it could also be applied in general.
Google Phone interviews are conducted for one primary purpose. i.e. to ensure that you should be brought onsite and it would be a mutual good use of time for both the team as well as the candidate. Hence, a lot of focus is on breadth along with getting a sense of your interest.
In general, for SWEs and PMs, telephone interviews are NOT done by the hiring manager but instead by the relevant interviewer who has a good track record of doing phone interviews.
Usual flow of a phone interview
- Introductions
- Warm up questions
- Deep one or two question
- wrap up
Few common warmup questions to expect:
- Tell me about yourself
- Your most relevant experience
- Most challenging project you worked on and why
- Walk me through and end to end experience on a project
- Why Google ?
Deep Questions: Deep questions are related to your area of expertise. They maybe technical as well.
What not to do in the phone interview!
- Don't ask confidential questions
- Don't use your computer or search for the answers on Google(we can hear)
- Don't ask about pay
- Don't ask about next steps, recruiter will follow up
- Don't assume the interview is going well until all the way to the hangup
- Don't ask how the interview went
What you should prepare before and during the interivew
- Keep paper and pen handy
- Get a silent place
- If you cannot hear properly, find a different line or ask the interviewer to call again. That's ok
Attributes you are being tested on
- Communication
- Relevant experience
- Listening skills
- Googleyness(polite, curious etc)
- Technical or analytical skills depending on the role
During the interview
- Take the time to explain the reasoning
- Ask good questions
- Take feedback well
What has worked for you ? If you are looking to prepare for interviews and need help with mocks, sign up at www.jinaldalal.com. If you sign up, you will also receive a bi-weekly newsletter with jobs info and nudges to become a better Product Manager!