Telephonic Interviews

Career Journal has some good tips on how job applicants can impress, or at least avoid turning off employers, during a telephonic interview.

Boiling it down and tossing in a few observations of my own, here is a guaranteed list of tips on how to botch an over-the-phone interview:

• Whistle.
• Hum.
• Flush the toilet.
• Mention that you just got out of bed.
• Keep repeating "What did you say?"
• Carry on a conversation with another person in the room.
• Let the other person in the room answer the question.
• Put the call on speaker phone so you can move around and knock over things.
• Respond to call waiting.
• Read your responses.
• Around mid-point in the interview, ask, "Which company is this?"
• Call the interviewer "Dude" or "Babe."
• Turn up some music.
• Make side comments to your dog.
• Eat corn chips.
• Slurp coffee.
• Yell at your mother to answer the front door.