Anyone here ever flunked a phone interview in the job process???

[maverick2112]

Applied for a position as a claims manager for an insurance company.............went and took 2 tests last week and did well so on to the 3rd part of the process (phone interview) and looking forward to the 4th step a formal interview........

Have 2 degrees.....business and education........past 19 yrs at current job..........

Well I call this lady today and she procedes to ask me a series of questions like
Be specific......
Have you ever had an upset customer and how did you handle it???
Have you ever failed to achieve a goal you set and how did you remedy this situation?

Etc. Etc..........just stupid bullshit questions like these..........

Well answered all of the to the best my ability and thought I did pretty well (I was'nt stuttering or looking for answere etc. etc)

Well comes to the end of the interview and the friggin bi*ch says

I am sorry but you answers were not what we were looking for and we will have to end the interview process at this point..........I AM THINKING WTF.......WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU LOOKING FOR..........

Anyhow was thinking to myself I must be pretty friggin stupid if I cant even pass a phone interview...........makes me wonder if the way I answered just didnt fit into a certain PROFILE that they look at...........

Or I dont know how to talk on the phone........self employed for 19 years:shrug:

Wonder how I would have done if I would have just lied my ass off and been very emotional and showed crazy enthusiasm.............

Dont really give a damn about the job......they contacted me thru a job posting site......but pisses me off the time I wasted only to not even get an interview............

 

[kickserv]

yeah.....I think we all have......no matter what you do you never really know exactly what an employer is looking for.........but I do agree with you though, it does seem that when you think you have done great....you don't get the job.....and when you think you bombed you do get the job:mj07:

I recently found a great job (at least I think it was)...had a 2 hour interview, thought I did great...and never even got called back:mj07: I am still at a loss why I didn't get hired.....meanwhile they are probably saying......."that kickserv, what a loser" :mj07:

 

[EXTRAPOLATER]

Well comes to the end of the interview and the friggin bi*ch says

I am sorry but you answers were not what we were looking for and we will have to end the interview process at this point.

Don't take it personally.
With a conclusion such as this I'd say that either the job was already clinched or this bimbo was just having one of those days or something. To criticize your answers and end the process--instead of leaving the door open somewhat--shows that. Applying to a company shows a sign of respect for the company and most people doing hiring will be more cordial even if they figure that they're after something else.

Personally, I'd say that if you can survive keeping your own business going then that is always the better alternative. Small businesses are suffering these days but it sounds like you have the experience.

Again, don't let it bother you.
Doesn't indicate shit, save that she doesn't understand the process.

 

[marine]

I'll toss in a response here and offer some advice as I do about 10 phone interviews a day.

What she asked you is called Behavioral Event questions. The best indicator of future performance is past performance.

Really, there are no right or wrong answers to these questions. Its a question of how you responded based on your actions.

Perhaps your answers rambled a bit, perhaps you were unable to create a clear vision of your answers. As you said, you haven't worked on the phone for awhile so that probably contributed to some of it.

The candidates that do well in phone interviews are the ones that take the time to make sure they understand the question and what is being asked of them, and then craft a response using a STAR format.

Situation - what was going on that led to the scene
Task - what exactly was it that you were responsible for
Action - what actions did you take to complete your task
Results - what happened based on your actions

Based on your answers to the behavioral questions, a pretty good profile can be crafted about you. Odds are they feel that someone with a specific type of attitude or leadership style will succeed in the position, and someone with an alternate style usually does not succeed in this spot.
You might have fallen into the wrong category.

Does it mean you are stupid and worthless? nah. it just means that this position and yourself were not a good match.
Do you expect to be married to every girl you call up for a date?

Don't feel bad or upset - yea it sucks you didn't get the spot and your ego might be bruised for a few hours, but you most likely just were not a good fit for it. no biggie, just move on to the next one.

 

[kickserv]

nice breakdown marine...that does shed a little light on the whole "phone interview" process:SIB

 

[maverick2112]

Thanks........

Wish I would have read that before yesterday........

Kind of makes the process simpler for the person getting interviewed.........

It is kind of a fine line between rambling on and not rambling on when they ask you to be specific as you can about an event that may have taken place years ago.........you dont want to be to general while at the same time adding all the specifics you can that led to the outcome........

Maybe I will re apply under a different name and get that lady on the phone again and talk for hours............:mj07:

Guess it could have been worse..........
She could have asked me...

What kind of sucess have you had in the NBA
playoffs this year ???

That for sure would have ended the interview at that point:shrug: