Telephone Interview Questions

Telephone interviews are typically conducted by a member of a firm's human resources (HR) team, or outsourced to a specialist organisation (such as a recruitment consultancy or job assessment organisation). Questions will usually focus on: your CV, work experience and academic history; your motivations for applying to the firm in question, the particular industry and job role; your knowledge of the firm itself (i.e. competitors, global reach, future plans); and, your skills, qualifications and competencies.

Typical Telephone Interview Questions

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It is less likely that a telephone interview would include technical questions, brain teaser questions or commercial awareness style questions (although you should still prepare for these questions, just in case).

Example Interview Questions

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Typical telephone interview questions may include:

  • Why do you want to work in [industry in question]?
  • Why do you want to be a [job role in question]?
  • What are you most looking forward to in this role?
  • Tell me about yourself/take me through your CV.
  • Where would you like to be in five years? What do you think you will be doing?
  • Why should we hire you?
  • What are your greatest achievements?
  • What motivates you?
  • Tell me about a time you have led a team.
  • What was your degree grade? Were you happy with this?

Where possible, always use a different example when answering each question.