Hey guys/gals,

I have a phone interview tomorrow morning with a company that pretty much gets to pick anyone they want in their industry.

My resume looks like a perfect fit for them, until about a year ago, when I moved to a different industry. (The last company I was at was having problems, and leaving got me out ahead of the curve, and I then moved into a new industry that pays more $$) A year later, I'm thinking changing industries was probably a bad call, and I threw a Hail Mary of an application and got selected for a phone interview with pretty short notice. The person I will be on the call with is a "Professional Recruiter" for the company, so I am going to assume this is just to weed out the bad candidates?

I know this isn't a lot of detail, but any advice would be appreciated.

Is it an in house recruiter or external? Be wary of salary questions. Usually recruiters want to know exactly how much money you make and don't like sharing how much that position is willing to pay.

In-house recruiter - I found their profile on LinkedIn as well.

Any tips on side-stepping the salary question? Does something along the lines of "Honestly, I'm not too worried about that at this point. I would just like to focus on proving that I would be a great fit at your company" work?

PeterPan said:

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In-house recruiter - I found their profile on LinkedIn as well.

Any tips on side-stepping the salary question? Does something along the lines of "Honestly, I'm not too worried about that at this point. I would just like to focus on proving that I would be a great fit at your company" work?

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I've seen various answers to this, depending on how much the recruiter prods. Some recruiters won't proceed without salary information, but since this is an in house recruiter they probably won't bring it up. External recruiters will want to know. Usually a polite but firm response just like you stated will be enough early on.

If it looks like an offer letter is around the corner, and then they ask for what salary you're looking for - do not give them an answer or even a range. Say whatever is necessary to make them go first. "Your experience gives you unique perspective, you can immediately add value, etc" Focus on what you bring to the table.

Good luck, and make sure you can find a quiet area, with excellent reception, that has space for you to pace back and forth on while you talk.

Depending on local law they may not be legally allow to ask. We don't ask as part of our gender and racial wage gap programs.

For any interview, research the company and become very familiar with what they do, their industry, their customers, and their competitors. Check LinkedIn for any 1st or 2nd degree connections you may have.

Make a list of 2 or 3 points you absolutely want to make during the interview. For a phone interview, you can literally type out the best versions of what you want to say. You could even make a list of common questions and create your own ready-made answers that incorporate your experience.

Finally, have at least one question ready to ask when they inevitably ask for your questions at the end of the interview.

Stand up, walk around, and smile during the call. It helps

How did it go?

PeterPan said:

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Went pretty well. There was one question that I wasn't prepared for and got caught off guard. I still answered it pretty well, but I stumbled through it more than I wanted to. I answered the salary question similar to my post above, and she offered up "we would evaluate your experience and look at your counterparts in our company to make sure you are adequately compensated". I'm expecting this position to be about 66% of what I make now, but it's a dream job that I really would enjoy, so I'm ok with that.

She said she was going to recommend to move forward with me (not sure if she says that to everyone) and that the next step would be a web-cam interview with the hiring manager.



Off to go figure out how to set up the webcam on my laptop

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Glad you made it to the web cam interview. One piece of advice is: Do not use your computer's webcam (usually they are crap).

Go buy a real HD aftermarket camera. Make sure the camera is positioned slightly higher than eye level so you're slightly looking up, not double chinning it. You'll need to figure out how to get a light on your face from behind the camera. I've moved floor lamps around and set them up right behind the laptop. Plain or professional background.

If this company interviews a bunch of joe schmoes on their laptop cameras and then they see you with a more professional set up it's going to immediately help you.