

Ask HN Recruiters: What if someone doesn't want to phone interview? - GrahamsNumber

Those of you that are hiring, or have hired in the past, how would you react if someone would ask to change the phone interview to something else, say a project of sorts, or other methods of interviewing? I just get extremely nervous in phone interviews, and usually perform horribly. I&#x27;d much rather some other form of interviewing.
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rlpb
I have interviewed a number of candidates over the phone in the past. In my
case, being good on the phone to customers was a hard job requirement. But if
the job hadn't required the successful candidate to use the phone at all, then
I don't think I would have had a problem with the candidate suggesting
alternatives.

The hardest thing though is that interviewers are generally all different, and
they have to be opinionated in order to be able to make hiring decisions. So
you're taking a risk regardless, and have to judge the trade-off in going off
the standard path for yourself.

In this situation I would have expected the candidate to offer suggestions in
what to do instead, particularly because I cannot expect to understand his or
her reasons in detail. If you want to seek an alternative, you should ask
questions to find out exactly what the interviewer is hoping to gain from a
phone interview, and be prepared with an appropriate set of alternatives to
suggest with the interviewer's goals in mind. Use email, online chat, or
whatever else you want that isn't too inconvenient for the interviewer. Try
not to stretch out the conversation too long out in time.

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jumblesale
Really depends on the type of phone interview I think. If it's really basic
HR, do-you-fit, core competency stuff then no, I don't think it makes sense to
replace the phone interview. If it's a technical assessment then maybe, since
it makes more sense for them to accept a work sample.

Work samples are a way better indication of candidate quality than phone
interviews. If the interviewer is sensible and has the flexibility to deal
with it then they would definitely prefer you to show them your coding chops
than ask you a bunch of technical questions. Many employers won't have the
luxury of being able to spend someone's time reviewing your code though, or if
they're big enough, will likely have a bunch of HR hoops to jump through.

If they're small and smart though, it's definitely worth a shot. Phone
interviews are horrible for both ends. Beyond the real basics I think it's
better to avoid them.

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Peroni
Fair question. If I asked you to do a phone interview and you told me your
reasoning why you'd rather another form of interview, I wouldn't have the
slightest issue with it provided the job your applying for doesn't involve any
phone calls to clients!

In short, be upfront and completely honest. Some people really struggle on the
phone, that's life.

That being said, the same concept wouldn't necessarily apply to face-to-face
interviews.

