Interview Tips and your Cell Phone

What is the Cell Phone etiquette for a job interview ?

Well, obviously, number one point is switch your phone of before you go into the interview!

If you forget, and it rings, silence it immediately.

Do not on any account speak to the person who is phoning you.

If you don't know how to silence it, switch it off. Make sure there will be no further interruption, even if it means taking a moment or two to switch it off. If you do so, tell the employer what you are doing so he doesn't see you fiddling with your cell and think you are reading a text message or something!

If I my cell phone rings and I click the button to silence the ring, when the caller leaves a message, my phone makes a loud noise (even though I silenced the ring) to tell me I have voice mail, and then will make intermittent beeps to remind me of that. This is not good in an interview.

Once you've silenced your phone, apologize to the employer, saying you forgot to turn it off, or you thought you had turned it off, and continue the interview.

Do the best damage control you can, but really it's best to just not cause the damage in the first place, so write yourself a note, or set yourself a reminder that will ring in on your phone say, 10 minutes before your interview, reminding you to switch off the phone.

I was once visiting a friend when her phone rang. She didn't answer it or look at call display to see who it was. She just told me it would stop ringing in a minute and kept talking to me. I asked if she didn't want to answer it, to which she told me that, no, she was talking to ME right now and anyone else could wait. That made me feel 10 feet tall, and obviously, I still remember that although it happened many years ago.

Make the employer feel that this interview and talking to him or her right now is the most important thing in the world to you. Your phone can wait.

If you feel you would like more help, I offer individual, one-on-one coaching for interview skills. by telephone.
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