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[DewPat]

What type of questions should I expect during a phone interview for an in-house position?

Many thanks in advance for your input!

[Robert K S]

Be ready to talk about items on your resume.  If you really want to be prepared, condense projects that might take several pages to talk about down into a one-liner tailored to the likely interests of the employer, then have a second and a third one-liner prepared when you hear "tell me more".  In this sense phone interviews are a great opportunity, because while you should never twist the truth in your favor, you can always condense it in your favor.  With phone interviews, the employer is testing the waters.  The interviewer doesn't want to hear more from you than necessary, nor take up more of your time than necessary if it is readily apparent you won't be one of the best fits from among the applications received.  So keep your answers short and direct.

Also, the ball's in their court now.  It's not your time to pitch yourself ("And another reason I thought I would be good for this job is...") or ask questions about the employer ("So why should I be interested in this job?").  Save those questions for the in-person interview.

Some other advice:

- Don't freeze up or act like a deer in the headlights when you get a call from an employer.  This can be killer to an applicant's prospects.  Don't be nervous, just be friendly and helpful.  If you've sent out résumés recently, and you get a call that begins, "Hi, is this DewPat?", don't respond, "Who wants to know?"  Say, in as cheery a tone as you can muster, "You've got the right person!" or "At your service!"  Remember to keep smiling the whole interview.  This simple physiological act will put you in the right frame of mind, psychologically.
- If you get a call while you're driving or in a noisy place, or it's likely you'll be interrupted, don't continue with the interview.  Simply say, "I'm sorry, I'm driving at the moment, could you e-mail me your phone number so I can call you back?"
- If you've already committed to another job, for goodness sakes, don't wait for the employer to ask about that before you disclose it to them.  As soon as you figure out it's a resume recipient on the phone with you, simply say, "I'm very sorry, but I've already accepted another employment opportunity.  I'm really grateful you thought of me."

[khazzah]

You might get more answers if you were more specific about the position you're interviewing for. Agent? Attorney? Patent only? IP in general? IP and other stuff?

[AnotherCog]

1. What is your name?

2. What is your quest?

3. What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

 

[Ghoti]

A big factor would be whether this would be your first in-house position (which reading between the lines, it appears that it is). If so, why you are leaving a firm environment would be a question to expect. If you are straight out of school, then the question would be why in-house.

A good answer would be for example; that you would enjoy becoming more knowlegeable across a specific space, that you enjoy working with inventors, that you like making sure during prosecution that the claims move in a direction of most value to company.

On the assumption that you would be working under another in-house person, a bad answer would be anything that makes you seem that you want to move to management, eg that you would like to be involved in making stategic decisions. You do not want to appear as if you want you the job of your boss-to-be. This applies wether you are being interviewed by the boss-to-be or someone at your level.