How To Avoid Flubbing Your Phone Interview

Just the other day, I received quite the happy e-mail. It was from an employment agency, specializing in the creative fields, through which I had applied to two permalance editor gigs. They thought that my work was “dead on,” and were wondering if I would be around that afternoon for a phone interview. After doing a happy dance, I responded that I would be home all day long, and then set up drawing up some notes, based upon questions they might ask me.

While I was in the midst of this, I received a response to my response. [Agency Guy] will be calling you shortly.

Crap.

I was unprepared. I was straight out of the shower, and with a head of wet hair, which wasn’t the most comfortable feeling in my chilly apartment. And I already knew that phone interviews weren’t my strong suit. (Speaking in general isn’t my strong suit; that’s why I became a writer.)

Of course I was dissatisfied with the course my phone interview took. How could I not be? What should I have done to ace that interview?

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