外企招募员工时可能会为了减少招聘成本、提高招聘效率而采用更为快捷的电话面试。多数情况下,用人单位将电话面试视为筛选应聘者的第一道门槛。他们一般会安排人力资源部的专员通过电话对应聘者进行简单的英语面试,以此确认应聘者简历中的基本信息,并对简历中不清楚或不明确的地方进行查实,以便决定是否安排应聘者进入下一轮面试。有时,用人单位也会在第一轮面试之后,采用电话面试的方式对应聘者进行第二轮面试,以确定是否最终录用应聘者。还有些用人单位甚至仅仅使用电话面试来招聘员工。因此,对求职者而言,掌握电话面试的技巧,熟悉常用的电话面试语句,就显得尤为重要。
一般而言,应聘者会被提前告知何时接受电话面试,但有时应聘者也会突然接到用人单位的电话,被要求即时参加电话面试。不论是否预先接到通知,如果应聘者事先做好了充分的准备,那么在电话面试时,至少不会手足无措、乱了方寸。那么针对电话面试,应聘者应当从哪些方面如何做好准备呢?下文将从预测并模拟回答面试问题、如何向主考官提问以及面试前注意事项这三方面为读者提供电话面试的应对策略。
预测并模拟回答面试问题
毫无疑问,预测并模拟回答面试问题是备战任何形式面试的重中之重,电话面试也不例外。应聘者首先要为自己准备好一个简短的自我介绍,关于自我介绍的技巧和范例,读者可以参阅本刊第72期(2009年4月号)的相关文章。之后,按照面试的一般规律,应聘者可以从应聘的公司和职位、应聘者的能力和素质、应聘者的工作经历、应聘者的职业规划和薪资期望以及应聘者的专业技能等角度来预测并模拟回答面试问题。
1. 从应聘公司和职位的角度预测问题
应聘者可以通过公司的网站、宣传资料以及公司营业场所来了解应聘公司的所属行业、业务或产品、历史背景、企业文化等。与此同时,对自己要竞聘的岗位也要尽可能熟知。应聘者首先应当研读广告上登载的招聘岗位的职责描述,对其中的每一个要求都要细心琢磨,不懂的地方要咨询内行或上网查询,然后结合岗位职责要求和自己的背景预测主考官可能会问及的面试问题,并进行模拟回答练习。
参考提问:
① Why do you want this job?
② What interests you about this job?
③ What can you bring to this position?
④ What can you do for this company?
⑤ Why should we hire you?
⑥ Why are you the best person for the job?
⑦ What can you contribute to this company?
这七道题实际上属于同一问题,只不过是问法不同。
参考回答:
I’ve been very careful about the companies where I have applied. When I saw the ad for this position, I knew I had found what I was looking for. I can bring to this job my four years of sales experience and knowledge of the industry, plus my ability to communicate and build customer relationships. That, along with my flexibility and organizational skills, makes me a perfect match for this position. I see some challenges ahead of me here, and that’s what I thrive on. I have what you need, and you have what I want.
除此之外,与应聘公司和职位相关的问题还有如下几种,读者可以参照前几期同系列文章中的答题思路,结合自己的特长以及应聘公司的具体情况进行回答。例如:
① What do you know about this company?
② How much do you know about our products?
③ What are your views on our product display?
2. 从应聘者能力、素质的角度预测问题
与应聘者能力、素质相关的面试问题很多,也是面试问题的主体部分。这部分的面试问题多为常规问题,一般涉及应聘者的个性特征、优缺点、团队精神、沟通能力、时间管理能力、抗压能力、工作动力与热情、决策能力、组织策划能力、解决问题能力、价值观等。
参考提问:
(1) 个性特征
Can you tell me a little about your personality?
(2) 优缺点
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
(3) 团队精神
① What type of people do you work with most effectively?
② Do you prefer to work independently or on a team?
(4) 沟通能力
① How did you handle the last conflict at work?
② If you know your boss is 100% wrong about something,how would you handle it?
③Have you had to convince a team to work on a project they weren’t thrilled about? How did you do it?
(5) 时间管理能力
① How do you manage your time on a typical day?
②What do you do when your schedule is interrupted? Give an example of how you handle it.
③How would you describe the pace at which you work?
(6) 抗压能力
How do you handle stress and pressure?
(7) 工作动力与热情
① What motivates you?
② What are you passionate about?
(8) 决策能力
What do you find are the most difficult decisions to make?
(9) 组织策划能力
Tell me about a time when you had to plan and coordinate a project from start to finish.
(10) 解决问题能力
① Tell me the most difficult problem you’ve ever solved.
② Give an example of an occasion when you used logic to solve a problem.
(11) 价值观
① How do you evaluate success?
② What did you value the most about your previous job?
以上列举的有关应聘者能力和素质的问题,笔者在本刊前几期已发表的相关文章中基本都已经探讨过,读者可以参考其中的应答思路和参考回答。
3. 从应聘者工作经历的角度预测问题
在电话面试中,主考官常常会就应聘者简历中的工作经历部分进行提问,一方面可以以此来确认其中的信息是否属实,另一方面也能更好地了解应聘者的条件是否真正满足招聘岗位的要求。这部分问题主要涉及应聘者工作经历中的一些客观事实,相对来说比较容易回答。应聘者在回答这类问题时,应以诚实为本,不要夸夸其谈,而且最好多用实例,以便自己的回答更充分和完满。
参考提问:
① Tell me a little bit about your present position and company. What exactly do you do now?
② What are the main duties and tasks in your current position?
③ What were the main duties and tasks in your last position?
④ Why are you leaving your current job?
⑤ What major challenges and problems did you face in your current/previous job? How did you handle them?
⑥ What was the biggest accomplishment in this position?
⑦ What was the biggest failure in this position?
⑧ What were the best aspects of your previous job?
⑨ What were the worst aspects of your previous job?
⑩ What is the most important accomplishment you have made in your career?
4. 从应聘者职业规划和薪资期望的角度预测问题
在电话面试中,应聘者的职业规划和薪资期望也常常是主考官面试提问的主要话题。
参考提问:
(1) 职业规划
①How do you see yourself in five years’ time? I mean, what are your goals for the next five years?
② What do you see yourself doing in five years? How do you plan to achieve your goal?
(2) 薪资待遇
① What are your salary expectations?
② What kind of salary are you looking for?
③ What kind of salary do you have in mind?
关于此类问题的回答思路和参考回答,读者可以参阅本刊第75·76期(2009年7~8月合刊)中的相关文章。
5. 从应聘者专业技能的角度预测问题。
在电话面试中,除了以上四方面的提问以外,主考官还可能会就招聘职位的具体情况向应聘者提一些专业性问题,譬如:财务管理中进行财务分析、成本管理的能力;人力资源管理中进行人力资源规划、管理培训的能力;市场营销管理中管理代理商的能力和市场反应能力;电脑系统管理中进行电脑维修、系统维护的能力等。这些问题的回答涉及专业知识,读者可以根据自己的专业背景和应聘岗位的要求对面试问题进行预测并模拟回答相关问题。
如何向主考官提问
一般而言,主考官在面试的结尾部分会留几分钟时间让应聘者提问。应聘者应当充分利用好这宝贵的几分钟向主考官提出一些与应聘岗位和公司密切相关的问题,进一步向主考官表明自己对应聘岗位充满浓厚兴趣并做了充分的准备,同时向主考官证明自己是最适合该岗位的人选。应聘者应当在面试前准备好一些问题向主考官提问。
参考提问:
① How would you describe the responsibilities of the position?
② How would you describe a typical day for the person doing this job?
③What are the priorities in this job?
④What are the most challenging aspects of this job?
⑤Can you tell me about the person I will be reporting to?
⑥What are the prospects for growth and advancement?
⑦What type of employees are most successful at this company?
⑧How do you measure success on the job?
⑨What is the company’s management style?
面试前的注意事项
除了预测并模拟回答面试问题以及准备好向主考官提问的问题之外,应聘者在电话面试前还要注意以下事项:
1. 准备好相关材料
如果预先知道了电话面试的时间,应聘者应当在面试前把自己的简历、求职信、证明信、所应聘职位和公司的相关信息等材料放在面前,以便面试时随时运用其中的信息(包括使用简历中的具体语句)来回答问题。
2. 准备好笔和纸
在电话面试之前,应聘者还要准备好笔和纸。在电话面试中,应聘者随时都可能要做笔记,记下一些重要信息,如:主考官的姓名和联系方式、主考官提问中的重要信息、主考官就应聘者提问所给出的答案、第二轮面试的时间和地点、参加第二轮面试时需要提供的材料等等。
3. 寻找一个安静的环境
应聘者应当尽量确保自己有一个安静环境来参加电话面试,这样在面试过程中才不会因为环境嘈杂而心绪不宁。如果应聘者在公交车上突然接到了面试电话,在没有任何准备而且环境噪音很大的情况下,不妨先试探地问一下来电者是否可以给你几分钟的准备时间,然后再开始面试。应聘者可以使用以下表达:“I’m now on the bus. Would it be possible for you to call me back in three minutes? I would appreciate it very much.”如果在家里,你需要获得家人的理解和支持,确保你在面试的时候,他们不会打搅你或制造噪音。需要注意的是,应聘者尽可能不要推迟面试,更不要向主考官索取太长的准备时间,这样会给主考官留下不好的第一印象。
通过以上介绍,相信大家应该对电话面试有了一个初步的了解。以上内容都是关于在电话面试之前要做的准备和注意事项。而在实际电话面试过程中,应聘者会遇到哪些难题、应当注意什么、哪些电话用语使用起来更为妥当,以及电话面试结束后又该怎么做,应聘者也最好做到心中有数。下期笔者将针对这些内容为大家做详细介绍。
John, who was born without ears, needed to hire a new bank manager. He set up three interviews.
The first guy was great. He knew everything he needed to know and was very interesting. But at the end of the interview, John asked him, “Do you notice anything different about me?”
“Why, yes, I couldn’t help but notice that you have no ears,” he replied. John did not appreciate his candor (直率) and threw him out of the office.
The second interview was with a woman, who had been with a bank a long time. She was even better than the first guy. But he asked her the same question, “Do you notice anything different about me?”
“Well,” she said, “you have no ears.” John again got upset and tossed her out.
The third and final interviewee was the best of the bunch. He was a young man who had recently earned his MBA. He was smart. He was handsome. And he seemed to be a better businessman than the first two put together. John was anxious, but went ahead and asked the young man, “Do you notice anything different about me?” And much to his surprise, the young man answered, “Yes. You wear contact lenses (隐形眼镜).” John was shocked and realized this was an incredibly observant person. “How in the world did you know that?” he asked.
The young man replied, “Well, it’s pretty hard to wear glasses with no ears!”
Banta Singh goes for an interview and there the interviewer tells him:
Interviewer: Banta Singh, you have to say the opposite of all that I say. OK?
Banta Singh: OK.
Interviewer: Made in India.
Banta Singh: Destroyed in Pakistan.
Interviewer: Good. Keep it up.
Banta Singh: Bad. Put it down.
Interviewer: Maxi—mum.
Banta Singh: Mini Dad.
Interviewer: Enough! Take your seat.
Banta Singh: Insufficient! Don't take my seat.
Interviewer: Idiot! Take your seat.
Banta Singh: Clever! Don't take my seat.
Interviewer: I say you get out!
Banta Singh: You didn't say I come in!
Interviewer: I reject you!
Banta Singh: You appoint me!
Interviewer: !!!