Preparing for Our Phone Interview

It's easy to overlook the importance of a preliminary interview. Like many other employers, your first-round interview with us is over the phone. Maximize your impression on one of our recruiters with these tips to move forward to the next step of the process:

Prepare!

Phone interviews are shorter, but you still need to prepare effectively.

• You’ll be asked a few questions during your phone interview: HR Required questions, role related questions, and approximately two behavior-based questions, in addition to some questions addressing the experience listed on your résumé.

• Have your résumé in front of you to refer to throughout the call.

• Think through experiences you've had, including leadership opportunities and/or extracurricular activities.

Heard of the 'STAR' method? It stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Put simply, when you're asked a question in an interview, it is expected you'll provide details to cover these four critical areas:

1. Explain the situation

2. What tasks were involved?

3. What actions did you take?

4. What were the results?

Behavior-based interviewing is no different—in fact, it’s nearly the same. We know this approach might make the interview feel more formal and challenging, but research shows this way of interviewing effectively reveals past performance and strongly predicts future performance.

How to Answer Behavior-Based Questions:

• Think of behavior-based interviewing as simply telling a story. Err on the side of providing more detail rather than less. And don’t forget we are not privy to your current/former companies or projects, so please articulate in a way that someone can follow along easily.

• Focus on your best examples from jobs, internships, school clubs/organizations, athletics, or class projects.

• Be confident in what you've done, stick to the facts, and stay focused on your behaviors within each situation (example).

• Take your time. It's better to take a moment to breathe and think of a good example or briefly review your notes, than to answer too quickly with a poor example.

• Don't be afraid to take credit—define your role within the group/team when explaining a situation, and use "I", not "we". We want to know what YOU did.

Do your research!

Your time with the recruiter is your chance to make a first impression, so make sure it's a positive one.

• Understand well the job you applied to and why you're pursuing the opportunity.

• Take your time to learn more about us as a company. Take advantage of information available on our Nestlé Purina careers website.

• Brainstorm questions to ask the recruiter at the conclusion of the interview. This demonstrates knowledge you've acquired and genuine interest in our organization and the role.

Think about your environment.

Cell phones allow you to conduct your interview anywhere. Consider your location ahead of time.

• Avoid noisy locations like coffee shops and restaurants. If you choose to interview in a public place, you risk having background noise and other distractions interrupt your call.

• Test your signal strength. Different phones and providers vary in their ability to transmit quality signals. Make sure the location you plan to use won't cause you to drop a call. "Can you hear me now?" isn’t a fun question to toss back and forth.

• Be comfortable, but not too comfortable. Your posture, facial expressions, and attire can strongly influence how you sound over the phone. Do what makes you feel confident and professional, even if that means wearing a suit at home.

Most importantly, remember there are no trick questions. These interviews are not a test or a game. Be relaxed. Be comfortable. Remind yourself that we must sell Nestlé Purina to you just as much as you must sell your qualities to us. We’ll be prepared to answer any questions you have for us! We wish you the best of luck and a great interviewing experience. #JoinOurPack