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.

To prepare for these, you can practice by recording yourself during a mock interview in which a friend or family member can assume the role of the hiring manager.  Playbacks will reveal the deficiencies in your delivery that you will want to correct.  I warn you that listening to how you actually sound on the telephone may be rather disconcerting.  However, the more simulated interviews in which you participate, the better you will sound and the more comfortable you will be during the actual screening process.

Make sure that the message on your answering machine reflects your professional character.  Change any inappropriate greetings (and I believe that you know those of which I speak).

Have your resume handy as well as any information concerning the company and the position you desire.  An applicant who does not have these essentials immediately at hand runs the risk of sounding ill-equipped and even appearing disinterested in the job.  If you need to hang a small corkboard by your telephone to manage your information, do so.  This corkboard should not be used by other members of your family as a forum for posting reminders, bills, or children’s artwork; its sole purpose is to facilitate the interview for you.

Similarly, the interruptions of family members and background sounds such as TV’s, stereos, or pets are not conducive to productive telephone interviews.  A telephone extension placed in a quiet area of your home will provide you with the privacy that you require.  Please note that a landline is preferable to a cell phone for purposes of interviewing.  If you do not have a landline in your residence, perhaps you can arrange to call the employer at a pre-arranged time rather than awaiting the employer’s call.  In that way, you might make arrangements to use a landline of a friend or family member for the conversation.

If the interview has been scheduled for a specific time, be sure to take care of other matters beforehand so that you will not be distracted during your dialogue with the recruiter or employer.  Even if the call is unscheduled, adherence to the suggestions above will facilitate your projection of poise and professionalism that may lead to a personal interview and an offer of employment.

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.

Start by listing and reviewing your exact duties in caring for your parents.  Then, assess their value in transitioning these skills to the workplace.  Did you speak with health care providers, serving as interface between physicians of diverse specialties in order to facilitate delivery of the best possible care?  Did you ensure that your parents took the correct medications and dosages at the proper times?  If so, you have demonstrated strong communicative abilities, meticulous follow-up, and a quality-oriented focus.  Did you schedule and/or transport your loved ones to medical appointments or diagnostic tests; did you get them there on time?  “Yes” proves that you possess the organizational and multi-tasking skills that employers appreciate.

Did you monitor your parents’ food supplies and other staples; did you purchase them?  Considering that the odds are high that they are on a fixed, if not restricted income, you must have shopped for the highest quality items at the lowest possible prices.  These abilities attest that you have sound analytical and decision-making skills.

What about your parents’ finances?  If you paid their bills, did their banking, managed their investments, and allocated their spending money, you are good at balancing payables against receivables to assure that financial obligations are met in a timely manner, budgets are maintained, and assets are preserved.

By understanding that your contributions were productive, and by articulating this in an interview, you will turn the interviewer’s negative perceptions into positives.  Considering you resourceful and responsible, he/she will view you as a valuable potential asset to his/her team.