#phoneinterview

Arrange a day and time. Make sure they are aware of the time difference and organise to talk at a time that suits you both. To avoid any confusion, specify whose time you’re referring to (for example, “I’ll call you at 3pm your time”).

Decide on the call medium. Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp and a straightforward phone call are the obvious options. I decided on Skype because everyone has it (even the oldies!), it’s on the computer (so you can be hands free), and you can see each other (making it as close to a face-to-face interview as possible). Share your number or username ahead of time. I recommend checking that you remember your password and testing your camera beforehand too. To video call or not to video call? I’ve had a couple of uncomfortable interviews where my camera was on and theirs wasn’t! Nothing makes you feel quite so exposed and vulnerable as being on display while talking to a black screen! To avoid this, you can answer the call by clicking on the normal phone button (not the video call button), say hello, assess the situation, and turn on your camera once you can see them.

Be punctual. Punctuality is my middle name, so I found myself sitting in position 15-30 minutes before the scheduled interview time! That is obviously a bit excessive, but make sure you’re ready at least 5 minutes before. You can judge the clinic by how soon after the arranged time they call. I had one interviewer call 40 minutes late, making it 11:40 pm my time! I was tired, irritated and not impressed!

Be polite, friendly and smiley. This will go a long way towards making a good impression. Employers seem to place more weight on personality than experience. After all, they have to work with you all the time! My lame attempts at humour (like when I was asked “what’s your weakness” and I replied “interviews!”, or when they mentioned working in snow and I joked “what’s that?”) made everyone laugh, lightened the mood and relieved the tension! … And if they don’t laugh, do you really want to work for them?

Make eye contact. Easier said than done with video calls. I had a couple of interviews where the interviewer didn’t have their camera on, and another where the interviewer’s camera was sideways! Not ideal. Try to look into your camera when speaking and avoid looking at yourself or the interviewer’s face.

Be prepared. As with any interview, re-read the job advertisement, research the clinic, stalk them on social media, and ask people! Get to know as much about them as you can. Google common interview questions and write down answers beforehand so you have some pre-prepared responses. Common questions I encountered were: “What experience do you have with smallies/production/equine?” “Why do you think you would be a good fit for our team?” or “what can you contribute to our team?” “What would you do in this scenario?” (I was asked to talk them through a cow caesarian!) “What are your long term plans?” “What are your special interests?”

Take notes. All of my interviews started with the interviewer launching into a ramble about the position, practice, salary, benefits, hours, out of hours rota, holidays, etc. In my first interview, I tried to absorb all the info and only realised once I’d hung up that I couldn’t remember a thing. It’s a good idea to have a pen and paper handy, and just jot down some numbers while they’re talking, even if not looking at the page. Alternatively, if you can find a way to record the conversation, it’s great to be able to go back over the details when comparing practices later.

Ask questions. I was asked if I had any questions in every one of my interviews. Prepare a list of questions beforehand. This shows you’re interested in the position and have given it some thought. Remember interviews are a two-way street! This is your chance to see if the position is the right fit for you. Some great questions I like to ask include: “What is the split of animals your practice sees (smallies/production/equine/exotics)?” “What support and mentoring do you offer to new graduates?” “How long did your last new graduate stay?” “Do you offer accommodation and a vehicle?” “Do you offer/encourage continued professional development?” “When would you like your new vet to start?” “How long are your standard consult times?” (this one gave me an idea of how chaotic the clinic is likely to be - I’m yet to test this logic but I’ll keep you posted on my findings)

Thank them for their time. Remember they likely had to sacrifice their coffee break or record-writing time to speak with you. They will probably offer to answer any more questions you may think of via email. They should also tell you when you can expect to hear from them.