Awkward phone interviews

I found this to be true at first. Calling a friend and conducting mock interviews helps, and standing up whilst talking, smiling, and preparing a sheet of questions and answers that you expect to be asked.

Don't write the answers down in sentences. I normally think about questions like why do you want to work here and bullet the main points I would want to make in my answer. Same with the main competencies, I would bullet a couple of examples for each one and choose whichever one is appropriate to the specific question when it's asked.

It's completely normal to have a pause to think about your answer before you start speaking!! If you're trying to talk straight away without having a second to decide what you're going to talk about, no wonder it gets awkward as you're just going to grind to a halt and start rambling about nothing...

This is what happens every time. I have read online that it's normal to pause to think about your answer but when I get put on the spot and panic, I just can't help it and answer straight away. Next phone interview I get I'll force myself to think about an answer before I start talking.

I have a face-to-face interview tomorrow. Just to confirm, so it's completely normal to have a pause for every question?

Absolutely normal!! Good luck tomorrow.

The other thing that can be odd on the phone is when you've finished your answer and it takes them a while to say something. Again, this silence isn't a cue to start garbling, they're just catching up on their notes!