The Phone Interview

Today I had another in a continuing series of phone interviews. For the uninitiated, the phone interview is a means of quick disqualification for a culled group of qualified applicants. In essence, if you receive a phone interview, a face-to-face interview is not yours to win - it's yours to lose.

The tricky bit is that a phone interview is like a like hitting a piñata; there is no possible way of telling whether you're saying the right thing or wrong thing until you receive a concrete notice of an on-site interview... or not. I have not yet had a phone interview that ended with anything less than a veiled hint that the rest of the applicants were just a formality. And yet, here I sit.

In this particular case, I was told that there were ten other applicants to screen; three, perhaps four, will be granted a face-to-face interview, after which a candidate will most likely be chosen to fill the position.

There are a number of sites online that offer suggestions for succeeding in a phone interview, but none clearly elucidate the most important aspect - that this is not an interview designed to bring you in - it is an interview to exclude you. For example, in this interview the tone of the interview was extremely upbeat and positive... until the following question came up:

"Now, as to salary... we're not sure where... we haven't set a salary for this position yet. What would you consider fair?'

Here, to me, was an exclusionary point. With ten years experience and a mid-five figure salary in the past, I may have priced myself out of consideration. In the past, dancing around the subject with the word "negotiable" would have been appropriate. In this economy, however...

I chose to inform the interviewer of my circumstance, and placed my minimum salary requirements precisely at my unemployment payment level - roughly half my former salary - with a slight increase to cover expected yearly travel expenses. "Beyond that," I continued, "anything more would be largesse."

There are those who would argue that honesty may not be the best policy. Most of those people have not experienced unemployment in this economy. The fact is, I would work for that wage at this point, and stating so honestly, explaining the circumstance - while making it clear that a more reasonable sum would be appreciated - places me absolutely in the position-to-beat. Other applicants would have to surpass my level of experience and not price themselves out of contention before taking my place on the hiring line.

At least, that's what I believe. Welcome to the land of piñata. I'll keep you informed.