How to hang up the phone (instead of dying of boredom to the receiver)

Three telephone interviews with as many people and several practical tests is what Almudena Nicolás (fictitious name) had to face in order to apply for a job as a graphic designer, which in the end she did not get. In fact, her current job was achieved by the 'traditional method', after being pre-selected through her resume and with a single interview with the director of the company. "It is difficult to know what went wrong in the previous process," he explains, "because in the end no one tells you 'you were wrong about this and that. But I will always have the question of whether someone distrusted me in any of the telephone interviews. because of my accent [she is a foreigner, although she speaks perfect Spanish]".

Despite what it may seem -for example, that they give you more opportunities because nobody is going to judge you by your appearance-, telephone interviews can play very tricks. If we take into account that more than 50% of the information we receive in a conversation reaches us through non-verbal communication, in telephone interviews, let's say, our voice will be 'alone in the face of danger'. Regional accents, speech 'defects', tics, nervous voices, lack of verbal feeling... can't they play against us?

According to the expert in the field Francisco Fernández, Managing Director of the consulting firm Ayao, "it can happen, but just as it would happen in person. On the contrary, some profiles with special abilities or from minority groups can avoid certain evaluator biases that could be given in an in-person interview.

What is clear, in any case, is that if you are looking for a job, you must prepare yourself to face an interview of this type. "Most of the selection processes, especially in large and multinational companies", explains Francisco Fernández, "have some stage in which you have to do one or both (telephone and videoconference). The assessment of knowledge of languages, for example, is more likely to use this format. Because, in effect, "at a certain moment, in several interviews that I have had by telephone, the person on the other end of the line has told me: 'Can we continue speaking in English from this point on?', when it has not been like that from the beginning," says Almudena Nicolás.

WHEN LYING IS USELESS and other common mistakes

So, first piece of advice: don't lie on your resume about your level of knowledge of the second language. It is true that the same thing would happen to you in a face-to-face interview, but with your voice as the only vehicle of communication, your shortcomings will be much more noticeable. And you're going to have a horrible embarrassment, by the way.

Apart from this, which is very obvious, other types of mistakes are often made when facing these remote interviews. Francisco Fernández identifies the following: "I think that sometimes the candidates think that they are not being evaluated and that it is a mere procedure, so they do not show themselves as they are."

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Although they also sin just the opposite, "that is, trying to make you believe that you are a different person than you really are, which may be being enhanced by the constant interaction of the younger generations through social networks." Lastly, through his experience, the expert detects that the candidates "do not dedicate time to self-knowledge and to identify what is the value that they contribute, what are their strengths to leverage on them".

What do companies use remote interviews for?

Apart from the flexibility when it comes to convening and conducting interviews, with anyone wherever they are, Francisco Fernández believes that the massive implementation of the system is related to the fact that it provides a modern image, "more adjusted to what the new generations demand ( X and Z, because millennials are already a few years old)".

But they also serve to assess candidate characteristics that are more difficult to measure in a face-to-face interview. For example, "their ability to face an unforeseen event and look for solutions, seeing their behavior 'unprepared'". And also, oh, AI! With new technologies, companies can "carry out certain parts of a selection process with bots ( is already being carried out), so efficiency increases".

Another thing is to sin in excess...

The craze for online and phone interviews that has spread among companies has risks, of course. And one of the clearest is abuse. Because no matter how deep you go, until you have another person in front of you, you will lack a lot of information about them. In addition, there are many of us who have little problems with the telephone, a medium that some of us produce a certain rejection, or leads us to shorten communications (to others, quite the opposite).

"We cannot fall, from my point of view, into the mistake of shifting most of the decision to remote interaction, as is happening in some cases of companies that have 'exceeded the brakes' by not carrying out any part of the process face-to-face", explains Francisco Fernández, and adds: "The excuse of COVID-19 is not valid, we are people and as such, relational beings. The experience of the employee begins with this process and, from my point of view, it is essential to do it in a humane way".

To finish, what is the advice that Francisco Fernández would give to someone who enters a process of this type, via conference or telephone? "To my students (I teach First MII and First MIO at ETSII-UPM) I tell them to be themselves, to have what they are going to ask them prepared because they already know it and it will be about their life and experiences and that orient your strengths towards the type of position and company you are applying to. Never lie and if you don't fit in, there will be some other position where you will, without a doubt." oh And smile (on the other side of the line it shows). But without going overboard.

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