Given the need to run leaner and meaner in an increasingly competitive environment, career professionals have streamlined the interviewing process.   Essentially a process of elimination for both interviewer and job candidate, it is no longer “business as usual” to conduct a first or sometimes even a second interview in person.  Instead, the telephone has become the medium through which a job candidate makes an initial, direct impression upon the recruiter or employer.

A calm, confident, and professional telephone demeanor infers that you conduct yourself in a similar manner in business settings.  In order to convey this image, be prepared.  Once you have submitted your resume, cover letter, and any other required documents to the headhunter or prospective employer, presume that you will receive responses via telephone.
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In the words of Shirley MacLaine, “Perception is everything.”  To aging parents whose health is failing, a child who chooses career over family can be perceived as uncaring.  To a potential employer seeking an applicant with a consistent work history, a candidate who interrupts his/her career to care for loved ones can appear out of touch with current practices and tools.

Once family obligations have been fulfilled and you prepare for serious reentry into the job market, the solution to the employer’s preconceived notions is to alter those perceptions.  How do you accomplish this?  Depending upon the nature of the position you are seeking, you may be able to demonstrate during an interview that your absence from the workforce did not mean that you allowed valuable skills to lay dormant.
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