Typically the topic of verbal crutches is something that people are coached on when they are improving their group presentation skills. Verbal crutches are those little “connector” words that all of us use from time to time. These are the ums, ahs, and even in the case of one candidate I interviewed—fabulous, that we unconsciously toss in while we’re thinking about the next sentence.
Let me tell you—this will KILL and I mean—RUIN your chances for a follow up interview, especially if your first interview is a phone interview.
As the interviewer on a phone interview, I have nothing else to focus on other than the sound of your voice. If that sound is constantly interrupted by an umm, or a ya know, I’m really going to notice it. If the job I’m considering hiring you for has a lot of phone work involved, I’m not going to subject the person on the other end of the phone to your poor verbal abilities. At this point, I don’t care if you are the most qualified person on paper—you’re out of the running because your message is being lost in a sea of these verbal crutches. It’s a very silly way to get eliminated.
Here’s how you clean up your act. First, you need to either ask your friends very seriously and honestly if you are a verbal crutch offender. Explain to them how important this is in your job search, and unless they want to hear you whine for an additional six months about not finding a new job—they should help you. Verbal crutches are bad habits that can become more apparent when you’re in stressful situations like job interviews, but are probably apparent when your guard is down like when you’re hanging out with friends. They don’t just appear when you pick up the phone for an interview.
Your other option is to record yourself while you practice for the interview. This can be trickier because you will of course know that you’re taping and will make more of an effort to clean up your act, but it could work.
Another option is to just make a conscious effort throughout the day to listen to what you are really saying. Too many times I find that if I’m not completely engaged in what I’m saying and am not truly “in the moment” that I will start umming and ahhing as my brain searches for the next coherent thought. When I focus on the message I’m trying to convey, my speech patterns clean up immediately and I’m back on track. I sound more professional and people have a tendency to not tune me out because they’re tired of trying to sort out the wheat from the umm and ahh chaff.
So bottom line, if this could be a problem for you—fix it NOW! Make an effort everytime you say something during the day to really listen to what you are saying—don’t tune out! If you want the interviewer to pay attention to you—you need to pay attention to you. For some people, this will be a hard habit to break, but it is well worth the effort, I guarantee it.
Today more and more companies have added phone screens to their interviewing process. Sometimes even as many as 2 or 3 calls prior to an on-sight interview is a requirement. Don’t be taken back by this just understand what you need to do. With less staff and a large work load clients are extremely tight with their schedules.
Back when the market was “normal” if we were to get a phone interview for one of our job candidates it was as exciting as kissing your sister. We wouldn’t even count that as a send out because your client didn’t have confidence that your candidate was a good match. That is why as a recruiter it is extremely important to know your candidates and never over sell someone that doesn’t meet the high standards of what your client is looking for.
The biggest thing to understand is that a phone screen is a weeding out process. Your job is to do what you need to do to get an on-site interview. This is not the time for you to decide whether or not you want the job. This interview is usually a non technical interview by someone in HR. It would behoove you to use some people skills and NEVER be condescending to the person on the other side of the phone. The reason I say this because you would be surprised how often this happens. Just because you were a CFO doesn’t impress the person who is going to decide your fate for an on-sight interview.
A couple of brief tips:
1) Make sure you have a scheduled time for the call.
2) Never use your cell phone.
3) Be as prepared as if it was an on-site interview.
4) Since you can’t see the client’s reaction keep your answers short and to the point. You can elaborate but that’s if they want you to.
5) Don’t talk too much.
6) This is not the time nor place to be discussing salary.
I will be coming out soon with a video dedicated to the phone screen but for know you can get some prep advice here.
