Phone Interviews

Telecommuting Phone Interviews: Presenting Professionalism Through your Interview Answers                                                                      

Part 2

So far you have learned how to present professionalism through your voice during phone interviews. Another way to show your professionalism is through how you answer the questions that are put to you by an interviewer. The way you answer those questions can either help you win or lose a position.

Here are some good and bad answers to some of the questions that you may be asked during the phone interviews:

Question: Why do you want to work from home?

Bad answer: “I really want to stay home and spend as much time with my children as possible.”

Reason- Even though this may be the number one answer to you, it’s not to an employer. This statement sounds more like you will spend more time with your children and will focus less on your job. Make your answer sound more like the job is important to you.

Good answer: “To be able to spend more time on my job and be free from all the distractions that an onsite job has.”

Question: What times would you be available to perform your job duties?

Bad answer: “I could work a little bit in the morning until I had to take my child to school, but I could work for awhile after that until I had to pick up my child after school.”

Reason- Again, this may be the right answer for you, but an employer will think that you don’t have any time to spend focusing on your job task. By stating this, you show you don’t care much about the job. State your answer by making the job seem more important.

Good answer: “I would devote my time to my job duties from 8:30-3:30. I can also work extra hours in the evening as needed to ensure my work gets done on time.”

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to work from your home office because of family situations, but most employers don’t want to hear from their prospective employees. They would like to hear that you’re interested in the job you’re applying for and plan to devote as much time as you can to perform your job duties.

Try to accentuate your interest in your answers. You don’t have to lie in order to get the position, but you can state your answers a little differently to show them you’re the person they should hire for the job.

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