I just shanked a phone interview for a job I really want

Don't beat yourself up too much. There's a Burger King in pretty much every town in America; so just try the one in the next town over.

Dude, that just proves that you were not the guy they wanted.

They don't want a guy who crams the night before an interview and sounds smart for a total of 48 hours before going back to his dumb self...

They want someone who can answer their questions without "preparing."

Plus, what kind of comapny gives phone interviews?

nice comments from others, but do you want to hear from someone who actually interviews, and wants to hire, people?

an interview is not college orals. and it's not a pop quiz. Generally speaking, they are not running over a checklist of 'what you know', grading you on a scale until you either pass or fail. Interviewers (the main ones, that is, the ones actually interviewing you for the specific job fit) are attempting to determine whether you will match, or they can closely match, to their needs. Even if they have to invest time in you to get you to that point! Remember, when people are going to the trouble to interrupt their work, and schedule interviews and prepare for them (interviewers prepare almost as much as you do), they do so because they have a need. They WANT to place you, because they NEED you. It's very hard to blow a job interview process based solely on one interview. If they do not invite you back, then they probably were on the fence about you to begin with (sorry, but that may be one reason for a second phone screen before bringing you in).

But cheer up by remembering this: if you feel you are qualified, you will get there. The enthusiasm you show here, and your desire to impress will not go unnoticed in interviews, and potential employers are looking for overachievers!

Ah, brings back the days...

I had applied for a coaching job and, out of the blue, got a call from an assistant AD. (I was on duty at the time, but there wasn't much traffic so it was easy to talk--no embarrassing breaks while dealing with patrons.) She asked me a few puzzling questions--puzzling because she obviously had my resume in front of her, and was asking stuff from it. These weren't nitpicking questions, to determine whether I'd give the same detailed answer as was on my resume, but just really basic things. The whole time I was wondering what the point of the call was, although she was perfectly pleasant and I enjoyed the conversation.

Only later did I come to find that she was just calling to listen to my voice--specifically, to find out whether I sounded "black" or not. It was another one of these done-deal job postings, but they needed to bring in enough other "candidates" (aka window-dressing) to make it look like they'd conducted a legit search. However, they weren't about to spend money on flying in some white guy. Apparently her conclusion was that, although my *name* sounded black (it does), my voice did not; and they passed.

Thank god. Instead of ending up in Michigan or something, I eventually got a job in NYC.

All of which is my usual longwinded way of saying I'm sorry that you got screwed over with the second phone call, but often these things work out for the best. Good luck.

Thanks, I needed that.

He did talk salary with me and told me I was shooting too high. I told him that if the advancement opportunities were there I'd still be interested.

Do they only talk turkey if they are serious about a candidate?

Here's hoping.

generally, we don't talk about salary (and either managing the interviewees expectations, or their own) unless it's pretty far along. But, that's not really set in stone. strange that they'd do that in a phone interview, though, without bringing you in first. are you not in the same region as your prospective employer? would it cost them money, in other words, to fly you in? that could be one reason for such a significant phone interview. otherwise, i'd consider a phone interview mainly a screening process to make sure you fit the basic criteria.

Yes. They only "talk turkey" when they are seriously intersted. Don't know about this guy, but when I've been interviewing people, I was always honest with them about their salary requests. If they were a lower-level person but wanted too much I'd tell them. Seems only fair. If they don't get the job from me, they should know what they should be asking for in other job interviews. Sometimes a higher salary is ok if the person is very well qualified. The last hire I made was that way. He was asking $10,000 more than some others, but he was well worth it.Now, hoefully you've done your research and know how much to ask. This guy could be flat out wrong or just hoping to get you for a cheaper price.You are definitely a final candidate though or he wouldn't have called you back. My guess is they have about 5 candidates. You're one of them. 20% chance of getting the job.

To the original poster- sorry man. You probably didn't do as badly as you thought... so I wouldn't abandon all hope.

To Flagpole, I can picture you interviewing some guy, hitting it off really well, thinking to yourself "this is my guy!", concluding the interview, then going in to small talk about running while showing the guy out of the building. You chit chat about local races, the weather, Letsrun.com... all of a sudden, the guy realizes that you are THE Flagpole Willy. The color slowly drains from his face. You realize that you are finally face to face with the anonymous basher that has hassled you for years!

Would that be a deal killer for you? Could you hire a man that had bashed you anonymously?

I understand the phone interview problem, sometimes they really suck. Let me get some advice on an interview I recently had and share some knowledge abotu a similar situation.

I have been in my job for three years and a friend of mine left the same position in another state and I was very interested in the position. (I went to school in this town and became friends with this guy and he is why I got into this field). This position would be a great step up for me in stature within the field and opportunities both personally and professionally.

I applied and had several of my friends in the town make some calls for me (the only way you even get a shot in this field). I received a phone call from the chairman of the board of directors telling me that they were very impressed with my resume and they want to talk to me. I currently live about 8 hours away from this city and they said they would like to do a phone interview to narrow the candidates down and then choose two or three for a final interview. I think great I have a really good shot at this job.

Now I mention that my wife is pregnant and could go into labor at any time and that is the only thing that would keep me off the phone at our prearranged time. He replies no problem and he understands and he gives me his cell phone number and to call and reschedule if she goes into labor.

Of course, my wife goes into labor at 1:00am the night before the interview which is at 11:00am. I am very excited and I make sure to take the phone number with me to the hospital. The labor drags out and at 9:00am I excuse myself from the hospital room and call the head of the committee. He immediately changes tone and states "that it would be hard to get the committee back together again if we don't do the interview today" and they really wanted to make a decision today. In other words, I had absouletly no choice for this job if I did not interview today. We agree that he would call me back at 11:00am with the committee and try to work something out. I go back and talk to my wife and she wants to move as much as I do, so we agree that I should interview at 11:00 if she is still not progressing with the labor.

To make this long story shorter, I end up interviewing in my car, at the hospital, on about 2 hours sleep and I think I do pretty well under the circumstances. Then after the interview I learn that they have no plans to do any second interviews and that all the other candidates were brought in for a face to face interview (they were supposedly all local).

I end the phone call feeling very depressed that I just wasted almost an hour of one of the best days of my life interviewing for a job that i had absolutely no shot at.

My feelings are that they should have found some way to tell me that I had not shot at the job when I told them that my wife was in LABOR.

What are other people's thoughts on this. I am trying really hard to not send this guy an email and tell him what I think of him, because I do not want to burn any bridges with other opportuniteis in the area.

dean moriarty wrote:

To the original poster- sorry man. You probably didn't do as badly as you thought... so I wouldn't abandon all hope.

To Flagpole, I can picture you interviewing some guy, hitting it off really well, thinking to yourself "this is my guy!", concluding the interview, then going in to small talk about running while showing the guy out of the building. You chit chat about local races, the weather, Letsrun.com... all of a sudden, the guy realizes that you are THE Flagpole Willy. The color slowly drains from his face. You realize that you are finally face to face with the anonymous basher that has hassled you for years!

Would that be a deal killer for you? Could you hire a man that had bashed you anonymously?

1) I never talk running in an interview unless someone else brings it up first.

2) I'm VERY well known locally as a musician, so if anyone knows me it would be from that. :)

3) Could I hire someone even if they had bashed me a lot? Yes. Would I? If he or she were the most qualified yes. As I'm mostly on my own these days with regard to work though, that's not really an option.

While you got a raw deal... definitely don't send the email!