I have been in several situations in phone interviews where I felt like I took far too long to respond to the question. For example, I had a phone interview last month where I was asked to give them four words that well described my character. When I heard that question I froze, typically I prepare myself for questions they might ask in regard to my qualifications for the job. It took what felt like an eternity for me to answer the question, and it bothered me the rest of the interview. However, I was glad that it was a phone interview, because had it been in person, I would have had a difficult time hiding my uncomfortable body language. After that phone interview I definitely would have liked to be able to speed up my answer to that question. I did get a second interview so that eased my worries about the first interview, but it still bothers me. For future interviews, I will practice more personal questions for sure. Those kinds of questions are the ones I struggle with the most.
I think thank you letters are a great follow up to interviews. I have always sent a follow up thank you email but the letters are an even better idea. A handwritten letter is much more personal than an email. The article points out that thank you emails are read every day for business, but the handwritten letters sent in the mail get kept. This will probably become even more relevant as time goes on and society is pushed to doing more and more business digitally. I will definitely keep this in mind going forward. In a situation where there may not be much that separates the candidates for a job, it could mean the difference between getting hired and not getting hired.
As you mentioned standing out/ showcasing one’s individuality is a good way to leave a memorable impression of interviewers. This can be done through personalizing a lot of the conversations had, like taking the time to hand write a thank you note. This is something I’ve done in the past and it’s always had a positive response. Logistically, I wonder how practical it is to hand write notes rather than promptly emailing a message?
I think you did a very good job on Blog Post 6! I liked how you included personal experiences into your blog. Unfortunately, I have been in the same situation where I froze and do not know what to say. I have learned that it is okay to make mistakes, they are bound to happen. I also liked how you explained the importance of handwritten letters. In my opinion, they are much more sincere than emails.
Great blog post! I’ve never liked phone interviews. They range from mediocre to dull and waste of time. Like mention in your post they tend to ask the most mundane and boring questions, and are just going through the motions. I do agree that in these scenarios I am also glad they are over the phone because I would not be able to hide my discontent and boredom. I wonder if over the phone interviews would stop if they got more hand-written thank you notes?
I think you did a very good job with your post. I think it would’ve been more effective to dive deeper into thank you letters and Why adding value is so important; However, I still believe you did a great job with your post. Adding personal experience about your phone interview that you recently had was a strength in your post because this expresses the truth behind how messing up in interviews are a prominent issue. Although I prefer emails I do also believe that talking about handwritten letters versus email us was a strength in your post due to handwritten letters providing a more wholehearted message.