# How to prepare for a phone interview: tips and common questions

Treat a phone interview as a short, voice-only screen: find a quiet room, keep one page of notes in front of you, and prepare 30–60 second answers to the questions screeners nearly always ask, such as tell me about yourself, why this job, salary range and start date. Without your face, your voice does all the work, so speak a little slower and end each answer clearly.

By the Speaking Coach team at Sodhera Intelligence. Updated 2026-10-22. Source: https://www.orecci.com/speaking-coach/interviews/phone-interview/

## What a phone screen is really for

Most first-round phone calls are run by a recruiter or someone in HR, not the hiring manager. Their job is to decide whether you go forward, and they usually check four things:

- **The basics fit:** location, work rights, start date and salary range.
- **You understand the role** and can say why you applied.
- **Your background matches** what the hiring manager asked for.
- **You can communicate clearly**, which on a phone means your voice, your pace and how you finish a sentence.

That shapes your preparation. You do not need deep technical stories yet. You need short, clean answers and no surprises on the practical questions.

## Set up for voice only

The phone takes away your face, your hands and the interviewer's reactions. Set up so nothing else gets in the way.

| Setup | Why it matters |
| --- | --- |
| A quiet room with the door shut | Background noise is louder on the other end than it sounds to you |
| Phone charged, on a good signal, notifications off | A dropped call costs you the rhythm of the conversation |
| Wired headphones or the handset, not speakerphone | Speakerphone adds echo and cuts off the start of your words |
| Stand up or sit upright | Your breathing is freer and your voice sounds more awake |
| A glass of water | A dry mouth is the most common voice problem when nervous |
| Laptop closed, unless you need the job post | Typing is audible, and reading pulls your attention away |

Answer with your name, so the caller knows they reached the right person:

> "Hi, this is Maya speaking."

If the call comes when you can't talk, say so and offer a time: "I'm glad you called. I'm not somewhere quiet right now. Could I call you back in 20 minutes?"

## The notes you can keep in front of you

This is the one interview where notes are invisible. Use that, but keep them to a single page so you are not shuffling paper. Put on it:

1. The job title, company name and the interviewer's name, written large.
2. Three bullet points for "tell me about yourself", not a script.
3. Two short examples you could use for any "give me an example" question.
4. Your salary range and earliest start date.
5. Two questions to ask at the end.

Write keywords, not sentences. If you read full sentences aloud, the listener hears it at once: the pace becomes even, the voice drops at the same point each line, and you stop reacting to them.

## Questions screeners ask

These come up on most phone screens. Prepare each one to between 30 and 60 seconds out loud.

| Question | What they are checking | Shape of a good answer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Tell me about yourself](/speaking-coach/interview-questions/tell-me-about-yourself/) | Is your background relevant? | Now, before, why this role, in under a minute |
| Why did you apply for this role? | Real interest, not mass applying | One detail from the job post and why it fits you |
| What do you know about us? | Did you do any research? | One fact about their product or customers, one reason it interests you |
| Why are you looking to move? | Red flags | Forward-looking reason, no complaints |
| [What are your salary expectations?](/speaking-coach/interview-questions/what-are-your-salary-expectations/) | Budget fit | A researched range, or ask for theirs first |
| When could you start? | Timing | Your notice period, stated plainly |
| Are you interviewing elsewhere? | Urgency | Honest, brief, no names needed |
| Do you have any questions? | Engagement | One question about the role, one about next steps |

## Example: a 45-second "tell me about yourself" for a phone screen

This is an example of the shape, with made-up details. Use your own facts.

> "I'm a customer support lead at a software company that sells booking tools to dental clinics. I run a team of four and handle the escalations nobody else can close. Before that I spent two years on the phones myself, so I know what a hard week in support feels like. I applied because your role moves from support into customer success, and that's the part of my job I enjoy most: helping a client get more out of the product before anything goes wrong."

About 95 words, so roughly 40–45 seconds at a normal pace. On the phone, that length leaves room for the recruiter to ask a follow-up, which is what you want.

## Sounding clear without a face

On a call, silence feels longer and interruptions are harder to recover from. A few habits help:

- **Slow down slightly.** Nerves push most people faster, and the phone line flattens fast speech. Check your natural speed with the [pace checker](/speaking-coach/tools/pace-checker/).
- **Signal the end of an answer.** Without eye contact, the listener can't tell if you've finished. Close with a short line: "So that's the short version. Happy to go into any part of it."
- **Say what you're doing during a pause.** "Let me think about that for a second" stops the screener wondering whether the line dropped.
- **Don't fill silence with "um".** A clean pause sounds more confident on a phone than a filler does.
- **Let small sounds show you're listening:** a brief "right" or "okay" while they explain the role.

A good way to rehearse is with a partner you can only hear. The interviewer in Speaking Coach is voice-only and follows up on what you actually said, which is close to how a phone screen feels.

## The hour before the call

1. Read the job post once more and circle the two requirements that come first.
2. Say your "tell me about yourself" out loud twice, standing up.
3. Put your one page of notes, water and a pen where you'll take the call.
4. Silence every other device in the room.
5. Five minutes before, say a few sentences out loud so your voice is warm when you answer.

## Questions people ask

### How long does a phone interview usually last?

Most first-round screens run 15 to 30 minutes. If the recruiter books longer, expect some questions about specific experience as well as the basics.

### Can I use notes during a phone interview?

Yes. Keep them to one page of keywords so you glance rather than read. Reading full sentences aloud is easy for the listener to spot.

### Should I take the call on speakerphone?

Avoid it. Speakerphone picks up echo and room noise and can clip your first words. Use the handset or wired headphones with a microphone.

### What should I say at the end of a phone screen?

Thank them, ask what the next step is and when you'll hear, and say in one sentence that you're still interested. "Thanks, this has made me more keen on the role. What happens next?"

### What if I miss the scheduled call?

Call or email back within a few minutes, apologise once without a long explanation, and offer two times that work today or tomorrow.

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