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5 IT Contractor Phone Interview Questions That Might Trip You Up

The difference between a face-to-face interview and phone interview is not much. In fact, the goal for both interviews are the same and that is to provide the interviewer with evidence that their criteria are met.

In phone interviews, your voice is the only channel you are using. Therefore, the quality of your voice should reflect your emotional being and can influence the result of the interview.


A phone interview is part of the selection process and usually comes after the candidate is shortlisted. It is a deciding factor whether you will proceed with the next interview or in some cases whether you are awarded the contract.

You have to ace this interview and to better prepare you for your phone interview, this article provides the guide for you to stand on a good stead whether you are applying for a local or international contract.



Five Fundamental Aspects You Need to Remember:


  1. Client Criteria: Most clients are looking for these qualities among
    their candidates: flexibility, dependability, productivity, likeability,
    affordability, and availability. Among these criteria, these three are the most important: Likeability, Productivity, and Dependability.
  2. Prepare and provide evidence. You should not only be ready with evidence on how you are as a productive worker, this can be determined by your responses. However, like-ability and dependability are usually answered with reference to what you have done in the past as if how you solved a problem or how you beat a deadline even in difficult circumstances.
  3. Having the best approach. Make sure that your voice reflects your
    eagerness to respond to the questions.
  4. Ask questions. By asking questions, it shows that you are in a positive
    frame of mind and that you want to know more about the contract. This also reflects your like-ability.
  5. Leaving a good impression. Make sure that you leave a lasting impression on the interviewer by asking relevant questions, engaging the client in the conversation and most importantly show in your voice that you enjoyed the interview.

By taking note of these basic fundamentals, you are now ready to take your phone interview.

Whether you are the interviewee or the interviewer, you must also know the top five questions that IT Contractor asks when they are conducting the phone interview, obviously permanent employees could use these tips too, but it is even more vital for contractors.

This will prepare both the parties in navigating through the phone interview and getting what they want out of the exercise.


A common IT contractor interview features a lot of questions to probe the candidate competency. To have a better picture, we have grouped together the IT contractor interviews into groups.

There are the standard questions, which are common in most job interviews. There are the Curve Ball IT questions that are sometimes not asked at all. The answer to the curved ball question will show whether the candidate has thoroughly researched about the company they want to get into.


There are also conversational questions wherein the skills of an IT contractor will be put to test. Most of these questions are skill based and allows a back and forth conversation between the two parties.

You must be able to recall a relevant experience in trying to prove your competency. In addition, there is also an in-depth look into
the competency of the interviewee. Senior management most often does the
competency-style type of interviewing.


It is hard to predict the questions that you will be asked on your phone interview, but to help you navigate the
interview we have compiled the five IT Contractor interview questions that are
frequently asked during interviews.


The 5 Questions That Might Trip You Up!

Here are the lists of these questions that might help you get that contract on your next phone interview.


  1. How well do you work with others?
    A standard question that will determine the candidate's attitude when working with others. A company would want to know that their IT person could easily and patiently communicate with others when tempers are out of control. You also want to know whether they will
    cooperate to solve an issue.

    Usually, an interviewer will an ask the candidate to relay a situation related to the incident. They also want the interviewee to answer in a language that common employees can understand not filled with techno jargons.
  2. Can you explain a Situation Where you had to Bend the Rules to meet a deadline?
    Anything that has a negative slant to it typically trips you up, we all want to sound perfect on an interview, and this is designed to cut cr*p and find out what you are really like.

    The key to this question is giving them a realistic solution, but be careful about how far you bent the rules, if it is too crazy, they could reconsider hiring you. 

    This is a great opportunity to inject some humour and win over your new boss.
  3. Can You Explain a Testing Decision you made, that you later regretted?
    Again, a slightly negative question designed to make you stutter and blunder, but stay composed.

    Think of a basic error you made. The most important thing is making sure you have a good story about how you have learned from it, and how you have used that experience to improve as a tester.
  4. Why Should we Even Hire You?
    This is a cut-to-the-chase type of question. They want to see how confident you are and what, deep down, you think you can bring to the role.

    Don't be alarmed if this is asked in a very direct, straight faced manor, some managers do this to psych you it, look them in the eye and explain why you are the best person for the role.
  5. What is Your Biggest Weakness?
    Think about this carefully, do not say something like "I am really sh*t at testing", that would be interview ended!

    You need to explain something that you are working to improve that you feel could be achieved in your new role. You are showing them how you can grow and develop in the role.

The questions listed above are merely scratching the surface and as of this writing may have mutated into probing the candidate further to get to know them better. The contract market is fast and furious and if you are not prepared to take the phone interview, you will be eliminated fast!

The best tool in acing a phone interview is to practice with these questions because it is not all about technology specific questions. The weight of the decision in granting you the contract relies more on your attitude and behaviour.


5 Reasons Why You Even Consider Software Testing Contracting as a Career

software testing contract as a career


A software tester is a person who tests the software built by other developers and finds the bugs and problems in the codes, and fixes them for the developers. They are skilled in software engineering.

A software tester is an important person for developers because they are the ones who make sure that the software developed by the developers meet the intended requirements and meet the usages of the targeted audience.


There are many software testers and software engineers. Not many people, outside of the IT industry really understand what a tester really does, the motivation for taking the role or the benefits of being a software tester.

Whether you are a software tester or willing to become one, here are the 5 reasons why you should consider a software testing contracting as a career:


1. High Demand for Work

As we know, there are thousands of software developers. You can find software for everything, be it food services, financial services or insurance, they all require software. As the number of developers and the requirement of software has increased, there is an increasing need for Software testers too. In fact, there is a high demand for software testers.

The career opportunities are increasing and it would be easier to get a job. You don't necessarily have to be working for a company. What awaits you is a prosperous career with a high paying day rate and you will be in good demand by companies. You can even get a managerial post. All you need to do is to work hard.

2. Challenging Work to Keep You Interested

You don't need to worry about the job being so boring like other jobs that you find. Many people quit jobs because they are fed up with doing the same thing again and again.

But a career of a software tester is so different. It is challenging. It is not always the same. There are many puzzles and problems to solve. If you don't want to have a boring job, then Software testing is the best career option for you.

You won't find it to be boring. You will face difficult situations and needed to solve them which make it more complex and challenging. You need to view the software in different perspectives and different angles. But the satisfaction that you get after fixing the defects and completing the project is incomparable. This is a professional career which needs thinking skills and logical skills along with the knowledge in software engineering.

3. Constant Learning - Fast Moving

It is a constant-learning career. There is always more to learn in a software testing career. You will come across different types of software and methodologies.

By testing and fixing the software you are learning new skills. You learn from each mistake you make and this will act as a knowledge bank when you do the testing next time. There will always be a team behind you to support you and ensure that you have all proper resources to learn.


You will be continuously growing and learn, thus improving your experiences and thus raising the chances for higher positions and better jobs from big companies. It throws challenges at you. You need to stretch your mind and think of different ways to find solutions. It is also about generating ideas. It is the only field in IT where you need to find different solutions and ideas and apply them to do your work.

4. Rewarding

You don't need to always work for someone without taking pride in what you have done. That is what generally happens for other kinds of jobs. They work and then they leave. They are not doing anything great. But for a software tester, you are going to help your company build a better product. You have the right to be proud of what you have done for the company or the people you work for.

If you want to do something different and become a person whom the team members values, then software testing contracting is the best career option for you. You make the impact on the project of the company daily. You will be an important and crucial member of the company. You decide the limit. You are in demand. So you will have more significance among others. There is a misconception that everyone can test. And thus the tester is having a rewarding career with satisfaction and happiness.

5. Strong Community

Software testers have a very strong community for them. They interact and discuss the problems faced. There are many members in the communities in Linked in and Stack Overflow to Twitter. They all have each other's back. They enjoy themselves by making new friends, discussing and also sharing their thoughts and messaging the members in their free time. The community is strong and insanely supportive and robust.

You won't face any problems while working. If you can't solve a problem, you can ask in the community, and members who have experienced similar challenges and who have found the solution for that will answer your query and you can get going.

The members always give a positive vibe while working. These communities are proven to be a real life saver, with motivations and job discussions. You will find many likeminded people. Sometimes these communities conduct gatherings for the members to relax and take a break from the work environment.

Other Benefits of Software Testing Contracting

Software testing contracting is an amazing career for those with good analytic skills. A software tester can have a very good career life with daily challenges to keep you engaged.

Another major thing is, it pays really well. As long as you can keep in work, the rates are lucrative, scope to increase your rate, you can claim expenses, and gives you a great opportunity to provide for your family. 

This career gives you a creative and challenging work experience and to support you with more resources to learn, you will have your team behind you. 

Did you enjoy this piece of information? Was this valuable to you? Please let me know your opinions in the comment section below.

Talented Tester Support
 

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