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[John]

I just got a call about for a phone interview tomorrow.  I have never actually had a phone interview; I have only had conference and on-campus interviews.  I have some questions:

1. Does this necessarily mean I will be invited to a campus interview (they emailed me last week telling me I had made the short list.  Does a short list necessarily mean a campus interview?)

2. How ought I to prepare.  Should I have my cv, list of possible interview questions, etc right before me?  I don't want to sound too rehearsed, but I want to make the best possible impression.    What is the most important thing I can do at this point?

Thanks

John

[anon]

1.  No and no.  It means you're in the top 10-40ish; usually 3-5 are invited.

2.  use the search function on the forum and put "phone interview" in... there are several recent threads about what to expect/how to best prepare etc.

[Anon]

John,
A phone interview does not mean you will be invited out for an in-person interview. This is more of a screening tool to see who they will invite out. It is a good idea to have your papers in front of you: publications, CV, printouts from their website.
Phone interviews are difficult because they only have your voice to go on and they are short. Sounding too rehearsed is better than fumbling and stammering. You need to sound like you are pulled together. Make sure you convey your passion for your work, which is easier to do in person. It's not good to sound dry. Make a reminder for yourself to thank them at the end of the interview and to ask them when you will be hearing from them about the next steps.

[helpful]

if it is the full ctee, ask for their names and write them down ; ask them to identify themselves every  time they speak.

[OTM]

While I agree with the other posters on the need to prepare and have material at your finger tips, I have a few additional thoughts.

While a phone interview does not mean that you are going to be invited for a campus visit, the short list might be shorter than previous posts suggested.  This year, I have been on a short list of 5 three times,  2 leading to phone interviews, one resulting in a campus interview.  There might be some discipline based differences, plus each search is different.

It can be useful to prepare materials ahead of time and arrange them so that they are all in front of me- a kitchen table works well so you don't have to move papers around.  You might think about questions and provide bullet points for answers- then, with a glance, you can refresh your memory.  Key questions include: why do you want to teach at this school, how would you work with this student population, what can you teach, and where is your research goingin the next 5 years.  Also, listing the books you might use to teach specific courses along with some justification could be helpful.

And the most important things to remember are: relax, breath, and take your time.

Good Luck!

[Gardener]

I've done a lot of these this season. They are hard. And they are impossible for me to ascertain how I did.

One thing that freaked me out on one call was that every time I spoke, their speakerphone cut out all the noise and "Uh-huh" comments that the interviewers may have been uttering. It was like speaking on a walkie-talkie, where only one person can speak at one time. It was hard to know if I was boring them, rambling on too long, or not answering the question completely enough. It must have been the type or brand of speakerphone. It was bad.

[%sig%]

[abd]

I would add that it could be helpful to prepare as if it were a real in-person interview.  have your friends ask you questions you know they could ask and practice.  I had a phone interview that I didn't do well on because I had all the facts (cv etc) in front of me, but i hadn't practice the interview type questions as well as I should have.

[another abd]

every phone interview i've had has led to an on-campus interview (and a job offer) but i may be a rare species.
go to the schools website and find out as much about the school and the department as possible.  look at what classes they offer and which ones you will be teaching.  it is a good idea to know what books you might want to use for these courses.  i've been asked that as well as "what courses in our rotation do you think should be dropped?  and what would you replace them with?"  clearly, if you have no clue what they offer, you can't answer this question.  my experience has been that you need to know more about them than you do yourself.  i have never been asked much about my cv.  questions have been limited to what courses i have taught and what my future research interests are.  this is the first point at which they try to determine fit so they want to know how well you know the school.  also come up with a few questions that you can ask them at the end of the interview.  i always ask what the students are like.  typical class size.  student demographic.  opportunities for service learning.  how feasible it is to get students involved in discussions (i've always looked at teaching schools, so this might not pertain to your situation).  
also, if it is a committee that is interviewing you, make sure you write down your names.  this may be difficult because it will happen very quickly.  but i always try to send a thank you e-mail to all of the phone interview members afterwards.  at least be sure to do this with the chair the committee.  good luck!

[lalalalalalala]

I just had my first phone interview a couple weeks ago.  

And the tip that served me best?  I had a handful of different color index cards.  I wrote each of the committee member's names & specialization/dept (it's an interdisciplinary gig) on a different color card when they introduced themselves. Then I spread them out in front of me when the conversation started.  It really helped me to have a place to look each time someone spoke.

Mostly, I found the phone interview to be very strange.  It happened via one committee member's cell phone so edges of comments got dropped every which way.  And it's tough to read the room on a phone chat.

However, if my experience is any cue to possibilities in other situations, cross your fingers but be prepared to hustle after the call.  I got the campus invitation barely 36 hours after the phone interview & was on my way to other side of the country within the week...

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[John]

Well, I finished the interview.  I dont think it went too well.  It was with the entire search committee on speaker phone.  I was prepared as far as having all my paperwork before me, anticipating their questions, etc.  But, as usual, I got nervous, spoke too fast (a chronic problem for me), repeated myself, jumbled my words, etc.  I think in terms of the content of may answers, I did alright; I seemed to connect with the mission of the institution.  But on the whole, I wish I had spoken better.
 
They will be conducting phone interviews this week and most of next and then at the end of next week they will be calling people for campus interviews.

Any words of encouragement, or am I dead in the water here?  How important is speaking articulately to search committees when selecting candidates?  They are human, after all, so presumably they have been in my shoes and can understand a person being nervous and manifesting their nervousness in their speech.  Any search committee veterans out there?

[Interviewer]

You're not dead in the water, just treading. If you get the call for the on campus interview, then learn from your errors (as you perceive them, you probably didn't do as badly as you think!). Be more relaxed and SLOW yourself down consciously. You ARE going to be nervous if you are invited for the on campus.

If you don't get the on campus interview, chalk it up and try to learn from your mistakes for the next one, which will surely come. EVERY interview experience makes you a better interviewer. Don't despair. Learn from it.
I've had the recent experience of an incredible phone interview and then a no thanks. It can happen the other way as well.

Buck up.

[%sig%]