Many companies out there are using the phone interview to screen out applicants for pharm sales or other sales positions. This is due to the need to reduce the high number of applicants for each sales position to a manageable number for personal interviews. It's a time management strategy on the part of the hiring companies.

If you sent in your resume for a sales job and you get a call from the company's human resources department asking you if you have time to answer some questions on the spot, they are asking to do a phone interview. This will catch many people off guard especially if they were expecting the call from the company was to schedule in a personal interview with them.



Phone interviews are like mini interviews designed to help the companies narrow down the high number of applicants to smaller short lists. Once a short list is developed from all the phone interviews, the lucky survivors on the list will be scheduled for personal interviews with the companies.

Companies with high demand sales positions like pharm sales and certain technology sales will use phone interviews as a regular part of their recruiting activities. Therefore, once you apply for such a position, you should be ready for a phone interview at anytime and not get caught off guard since it may be the only opportunity to advance further. Some of the companies I have worked use phone interviews routinely. I have even used them when filling vacant pharm sales territories under my management.

Of course, the big disadvantage of phone interviews is that certain aspects of communications are lost when it is not a face to face scenario. In addition to general interviewing skills, job seekers should also develop phone interviewing skills. You definitely don't want to be cut off the short list due to poor phone interviewing skills that will stop your chances from getting closer to that big sales job whether in pharm sales or any other high demand industry.

Clint Cora is the author of the book "How To Get A Dream Job In Pharmaceutical Sales - Direct Inside Advice and Guidance from a Sales Manager". He had a very successful fourteen year career as a pharmaceutical sales representative, sales trainer, product marketing manager and a national sales manager.