Prepping for the Phone Interview — Part 2

Yesterday, TheLadders picked up my posting on how to behave on a phone interview. (Thanks you Ladders!) The News Editor brought up an interesting question to me that I thought was worthy of sharing.

In my posting, I talk about the importance of answering every single phone call as if it’s potentially coming in from your next boss. John asked me…

Would you say it’s OK to let voice mail do the work? I typically let numbers not in my address book go right to voicemail where I can call back with the full knowledge of who I’m calling and prepped to talk the talk.

My answer was, “not such a great idea,” and here’s why. If you are applying for an editorial job and the Editor-in-Chief of “O”, Oprah’s magazine, is calling you, do you really want to let that one pass you by? The E-I-C is extremely busy and sometimes allots a certain amount of time a day to make calls like this. If you miss it, you could have a very hard time getting her on the phone again. In the meantime, she’s on to the next candidate who, if he answers the phone, is one step ahead of you in the game. Why take the chance. Answer the phone, be prepared for anything, and go for it!

Carpe diem…