How long are successful phone interviews usually suppose to be? I've never had one go for longer than 20 minutes, and some when done by HR are usually very quick and ask my availability for in person interviews. I recently had one and it was about 22 minutes with the recruiter for the firm, although the email when they initially made contact asked when I would be available for a 30 minute phone interview, and I may have dinged a question, so I am not sure how that looks. On the other hand, 22 minutes felt like an eternity and I'm really not sure what else we could have talked about to make it longer than 30 minutes. In person interviews go great for me and have usually been a very fluid and natural 45 minute conversation with the staff, but this phone interview with the recruiter was a little more stressful. When you're never going to meet the HR lady in person and don't really care about her background or interest, what else are you suppose to talk about? I most of what I wanted to say and showcase from my resume, but somehow I was left feeling as if I should have said more/approached it differently.
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Easily anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour. You realize that it's in your best interest to be nice to HR, right? You should care about the "HR lady's" background because she's the one that took out the time to speak to YOU. You sound like a douche and I'm glad your interview didn't end up going the way you imagined.
I'm not looking down on the HR lady or think I am better than her. That comment I made was meant to illustrate the lack of human connection people tend to have when speaking over the phone with someone from another city that you will never meet and have little in common with. We went over my resume, job experience, school experience, questions she had, and questions I had, then I looked at my phone at we were at 19 minutes in length. I'm pretty good at BS'ing with people and building rapport with them. She went to a school in the midwest, married a guy from my father's native country, then got her MBA. She started out as an executive assistant, then worked in sales, then got her MBA, then HR, now head of recruiting. As a finance guy from a target school that is looking at financial analysis work, what else can I ask her about her path to where she is now or if she had any advice for me? I asked good questions, for her advice on future applications, then thanked her and we went our different ways. I'm just wondering if this is common and if it doesn't hurt me?
I've also had longer phone interviews with young associates or second year analyst that were guys and played sports in college, or went to similar schools, and we shot the shit and talked about the good old days. These interviews lead to final rounds and in person interviews.
My main question is if HR lady asks you to schedule a 30 minute phone interview, and you only talk for 22 minutes, is that bad or is it normal and just the way it happens sometimes?
It's normal, I wouldn't fuss about that at all. She may have planned to have the call only last 20 minutes but scheduled 30 minutes in case it went over.
Quality over quantity. If you don't get the job it wasn't because your phone interview didn't last enough minutes.
Don't stress. Everyone has something different in mind. I've had one phone interview that lasted for an hour (didn't get a callback), and one that lasted for 6 minutes (in the job now). Every HR is different - some use the call as a pre-screening process, an interview, or just an informative "here's what the role is." They may or may not have already decided to bring you in based on your resume. What's more important than the time is how you felt about it - did it end on a positive note, did your interviewer leave you with specifics about their pipeline, did you talk about scheduling an in-person interview, etc.
It's all relative. I've had ones that were literally 10 minutes and I still made it to the next round.
Another one was much longer that was set up by a friend and took closer to 45. This was months ago when I was naive and thought I knew enough about the business to pass a modeling test well above my experience. That was a humbling process lol
Phone interview length?? (Originally Posted: 08/02/2016)
How long are successful phone interviews usually suppose to be? I've never had one go for longer than 20 minutes, and some when done by HR are usually very quick and ask my availability for in person interviews. I recently had one and it was about 22 minutes with the recruiter for the firm, although the email when they initially made contact asked when I would be available for a 30 minute phone interview, and I may have dinged a question, so I am not sure how that looks. On the other hand, 22 minutes felt like an eternity and I'm really not sure what else we could have talked about to make it longer than 30 minutes. In person interviews go great for me and have usually been a very fluid and natural 45 minute conversation with the staff, but this phone interview with the recruiter was a little more stressful. When you're never going to meet the HR lady in person and don't really care about her background or interest, what else are you suppose to talk about? I most of what I wanted to say and showcase from my resume, but somehow I was left feeling as if I should have said more/approached it differently..
This is very good satire.
Clever.
length of informational phone interview (Originally Posted: 08/24/2009)
I have been trying to keep my calls between 15-20 minutes long, but I wanted to know what others thought about what would be an appropriate time. I made sure to search before posting.
I would focus on 10-15 min. If their answers are long and they seem engaged, ask if they have 5 more minutes for a few questions. If they say they have lots of time, go for it, but give them the option after 10-15 min to wind down the call.
Here are some informational interview do's and don'ts you might want to take a look at - http://bit.ly/VCr79
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After 10-15 minutes, I usually go something like "i know you're busy, so I don't want to keep you for too long". sometimes they'll say "alright", "sure" etc., meaning they'd like to finish the call. other times, they'll tell me it's fine/they have some more time in which case you can continue for another 5-10 minutes.
Oh wow... I've had conversations with alums that have streteched to an hour, although usually we just start chatting about random stuff towards the end. Haha, I guess next time, I should offer them the "I know you're busy ..." line after 15 minutes, although I've actually had to politely end conversations because some people just like to talk I guess...
I think 15-20 minutes is a fine time frame. Essentially, you get past introductions and thanks, which takes 3-5 minutes, and then you've got about 10-15 minutes for back and forth. That's a perfectly reasonable time frame for the call.
Remember, it's always on you to gauge the interest/available time of the contact - if you see the answers are short, then look to wrap up by the 15 minute mark, if the conversation seems to be running smooth, then at about the 18-20 minute mark, say something like "I didn't realize the time, am I keeping you from another engagement" or something like that so that they realize you can stay on the call a bit longer, but at the same time, you are respectful of their schedule and are giving them a way out if they need to get going. Then just follow-up with the thank you email.
Check out this article I just put out that could help you a bit: http://www.bankonbanking.com/2009/08/25/effectively-working-the-informa…
IBanker www.BankonBanking.com [email protected] Articles, News, Advice and More Break Into Investment Banking
The quickest one I've had was 20 minutes and the longest was 45 minutes. Obviously though you'd have to judge for yourself how much time they seem to have. If they're rushing just use the line.
As long as your weiner. Talk longer if you want to be the Big Swinging Dick. But seriously, there's no time limit. Give it the usual 30 min.
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