For most of our students and graduates this is the most daunting part of the application process for their internship.  But the response I always get after our students have finished their phone interview is “that wasn’t too bad, it was more of a chat on the phone rather than a scary interview”

So some tips already I hear you saying:

1) Remember to smile while you’re speaking so the interviewer will receive a positive impression.

This one is so simple but works so well, body language is over 80% of the way we communicate in a normal face to face interview, so not being able to see the person you are talking to, means you need to rely on voice tone and what you say.  Smiling is a simple way of not slipping into a monotone voice while trying to think of what to say.

Also as it’s a telephone interview, again the interviewer will not be able to see if you are nodding your head in approval, so ensure that you are vocal and that you are responsive to everything that the interviewer is asking.

2) Act confident, friendly and well-prepared

Couple of ways you can do this,

• firstly stand up when you are talking on the phone, don’t sit down (or slouch!).

This is actually something I learnt when I was on my internship, and it works surprisingly well.  Next time you need to make an important phone call try doing it standing up, you’ll feel a lot better than sitting down (bit of psychology in there which I won’t go into).

• Secondly have your CV printed off and in front of you while you are doing your interview.

Most employers will refer to your CV/ resume during the interview and if you’re like me you wrote this a loooong time ago and don’t even know what references you put in there.

3) Show that you have a knowledge of their company (RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET)

Sorry didn’t mean to shout there but this is an area where you can really impress the person interviewing you.  Stuart did this well and so did Charlotte for her Fashion Internship interview.  Today most information you can find on the internet.  So use it to the full potential

• Look at their website, see what projects they have on, how many staff, look at their press releases if they have them
• Google the company to see if anything extra comes up in the news or on Australian websites
• Google the person interviewing you, although don’t take this one too far and freak them out! It is good to know what the person interviewing you is responsible for, if it is an events internship and the person interviewing you is in charge of event set up then you can customise your responses to this.

4) Think about your skills and attributes

For many of our students this is their first bit of quality work experience in their career area so trying to think of your skills and attributes for PR or Advertising internships will be pretty hard.  Think outside the square a bit her as the person interviewing you knows you will not necessarily have experience but you have the theory behind you to jump into your internship.

Couple of things here:

• Think about your strengths, could be you are a people person, good social skills, think of examples where you have used your strengths in a part time job you have had or at university
• Employers like to hear that you have weaknesses, try to make the weakness actually come across as a strength, for example my weakness is that I am a perfectionist.  Yes this can be a weakness in that you never get that article written, but follow this up with the steps you have taken to make yourself more effective like giving yourself a deadline.

That’s about all, if you think about how you would be an asset to the internship company you will be working for and come across as keen to learn then you will fly through the interview.

If you have applied for an internship through Intern Options then we will walk you through the phone interview in more detail and Jon will be there to talk you through some phone interview tips specific to your employer.

All the best and maybe try closing your eyes and pretending you’re in Australia at one of these locations already, that will make you relax…

Cheers,Jon

Intern Options – Australia & New Zealand

www.InternOptions.com