First read part 1 because now we are going to dive straight in to the dos and don’ts of your first real (live) interaction.

Your goal is to pass this assessment stage – even though the phone call or WhatsApp message has just hit you out of the blue – and here is how to do it.

Yes, your CV got you this far, but only you can pass this impromptu interview. You must engage with the other person.

Engaging is about two people talking together. It is not a verbal re-run of your CV – which the interviewer has probably read anyway.

In this stage your interviewer wishes to find out who you are as a person. “Will you ‘fit in’ to the culture of the organisation?” is one of the questions they are thinking of while engaging over the phone.

The other question being “will you be able to solve my current problem?”

As you do not yet know the ‘organisational culture’ or the exact ‘problem to be solved’ you need to show curiosity and problem solving skills, based on the initial questions from the interviewer, and then help the interview process move on from there through your own engagement.

Try not to go silent; leaving everything up to the interviewer. After a number of previous calls the interviewer is becoming jaded and may appreciate a more interesting (engaging) call with you:

Don’t be shy. Give answers that show you can think on your feet and which showcase your understanding and communication skills. More is better as it gives fuller picture of who you are. And, crucially, how you operate in the real world. 

Your goal should be to have conversation with the employers representative – not a Q and A where they ask a question and you give the answer from your CV. This is just hard work and it’s now tempting to move onto the next candidate.

Listening to a memorable conversation = on the list.

Boring Q and A = you won’t hear from us again.

After all, your CV is full of stuff about how good you are at team work and communicating but then you don’t communicate openly and the prospective interviewer gets frustrated. = put on hold for now and look at other candidates who can explain themselves via a two way conversation.

Do not use slang, or contractions, even though you are on WhatsApp. When having this type of conversation you are not chatting with your friends. Everything you write is part of the assessment. Be careful of autocorrect language stored in your device memory. Use capital letters. Do not use Doc for Doctor. The person you are speaking to is not your friend, they are your future boss. Being casual or not respectful = put on hold for now, look at next candidates answers in Whatsapp.

You can even check in and ask if your answer was comprehensive enough  = interviewer is pleasantly surprised by your proactivity – more inclined to progress with you in the conversation.

Don’t copy-paste into WhatsApp from your CV = straight to Blocked. I’ve seen your CV – I don’t need to see it again. I want to hear your impressions now.

Don’t answer a question with your own question. Your interviewer can see it coming and it does not help you get to the next stage – the on site assessment. Creates the impression of a delaying tactic / smartarse / not helpful for the organisation = Bye.

You may be asked if you have any questions so this is the time to ask. Now you show that you already prepared and looked up your employer online. Deliver a question(s) which relates to your intended role. Do not ask a question which is already answered on the website.

Be sensible about the money if you are serious about the job. You are going in at the bottom and have many years of hard work ahead. NB: You are not going to paid for your degree certificates. 

Incase you skipped that part: You are not going to be paid for your degree certificates.

Your certificates may help to get you the interview but that’s about it.

You are going to be paid for solving the organisation’s problems. And, you don’t even know what they are yet. So, how can you value yourself? The aim is to get your foot in the door and gain more experience in your field. Then your value goes up and you know how to leverage it in your organisation or the marketplace.

The whole CV thing was just to get you to this point so don’t blow it now.

I could say ‘good luck’ but with many hundreds of CVs for coming in for each job you need skill, not luck, to stand out and win. However, all is not lost – there are skills you don’t even know you have (Part 3).