Even before the economy soured, telephone interviews were becoming prevalent as a hiring practice.  Office politics and governmental regulations often demanded that managers give a voice to applicants whose resumes painted them as anything other than perfect fits for the available positions.  Telephone interviews became an expedient means of separating the wheat from the chaff.  The wheat that did emerge (viable candidates) was subsequently granted the more time-consumptive and in-depth interviews.   Employers now facing a gut of applicants do not have the luxury of granting face-to-face interviews to every single candidate.  Thus, the telephone interview has gained even more significance in this tightened economy.

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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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