oxford_lad

People I have sent out a couple of emails regarding jobs in sydney, just mainly cold calling if you like.

I have had a responce and have been asked to have a phone chat about things, origionally was only going to be a quick call. I now however have had an email saying allow 30-45 mins for the call!!!

I have no landline here in the UK so would it be best to use mobile or set up skype?

Also has anyone else had one of these sort of calls, advice would be handy!!!

Deancm

They'll be calling you so don't worry about it.

freebo

I head out to start my new job in a few days & had 2 phone interviews and 1 video interview for it. Each one was about an hour (a couple of exams too).

Best advice is to be yourself & just talk normally, I don't know what line of work you're in but one of my calls was a technical grilling and the other a personality assesment. Mainly I think they want to know you're a normal human (not some nutter) and that you know your job.

Watch out for the lag on the phone call (was extra bad on video), as you can end up talking over them. Just take a few deep breaths and try to relax/not babble etc.

They will be calling you, try to use a landline as you will pay through the nose to receive a call on a mobile, I use skype a lot but wouldn't risk an interview for it, I've had some really bad lines at times.

Good luck, I expect it won't be as bad as you may think.

Deancm

Since when do you pay to receive a call on a mobile? The only time you would pay to receive is if you have the call diverted to your mobile.

As it's a business call, the business calling will cover the expense.

freebo

I'm remembering paying to receive calls on my UK mobile when I was in the states but could well be wrong about receiving overseas calls when in the UK.

Rod-Helen-Poppy

had a few of these and never had to pay even though i received them on my mobile.

just relax and be prepared - i found that they were more interested in me as a person than my technical knowledge - they could see all my qualifications etc from my CV.

i stood up and walked around as it helped me think lol.

good luck

oxford_lad

Thanks for that, just hope that it's more an informal chat and not a full on iterview type thing!!

Rod-Helen-Poppy

not sure what work you are in, but im in engineering on the railways, so they kind of dropped things in that i should know about - so i elaborated and talked about them.

but all of the one's i have had have been quite informal to be honest.

i spent a few days reading standards etc to prepare, and found i was asked very little - if any - technical questions.

and they offered a job too lol.

mark213

You only pay to receive if you are roaming. If you have a uk mobile on a uk network receiving is free. If you are aus/foreign mobile on a uk network you will pay to receive. Check with your operator for roaming rates. I dont think the OP is roaming

oxford_lad

Nope not roaming, here on Orange so should be fine...thanks anyway worth checking though...

oxford_lad

I a mechanical design engineer doing 3D CAD modeling

Deancm

Standing up is good as it makes you come across more confident over the phone.

lolylew

yes my hubby had a couple of telephone interviews for the same company - we now live over here, and bonus, they paid for all our shipping and flights
not saying that will deffo happen but you never know

good luck

robjcamb

Seconded. I had a telephone interview for a job I was offered and accepted. Though it certainly was an interview, the style was very informal and it mostly felt like a chat rather than a grilling. I think I came across well because I was able to converse fluently about my technical speciality.

But really, they weren't trying to give me a hard time or put me on the spot; very much the opposite in fact. I wish more interviews were like this as it gave me a good opportunity to find out more about them as well.

I just made a list of things I wanted to get around to asking about, and had a mug of tea with me

elice_in_oz

Just make sure you are in an area with extra good mobile reception as lines can be dodgy at the best of times from fixed line to fixed line between Australia and Europe. Also, as Freebo pointed out, be very aware of the delay/echo you can get. Best is to wait a second or two before you reply to questions to ascertain they have finished the question And of course, make sure your mobile is fully charged