system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Phone interview!

Tomorrow I have an hour short zoom interview  for my dream position. I feel pretty prepared (I think) but tell me….how do folks screw up these short interviews? Do they really matter that much?

Edit: I think it went pretty well! Not sure if I blew them away but I was succinct, specific and shared my vision. Thanks for all your advice! Now for 3 weeks of waiting to find out if I get invited for the in person…
gpt
Yes they matter. People screw them up by thinking they don’t matter. This is how we narrow down 10-12 highly qualified candidates to 3-5 for final interviews/campus visits. 

1.	Make sure your connection is stable and reliable. Plug into Ethernet. 
2.	Wear headphones and use an external mic if you have one. 
3.	Practice your responses to commonly asked interview questions. You want to be conversational, but practicing your answers allows you to remain clear and concise and shows that you are prepared. 
4.	Have a short list of questions ready to go. The questions you ask tell us a lot about you. Are they insightful questions about our program or are they things you could have found by browsing our website?
5.	Know the program. Know the faculty. Know what their objectives are and how you fit in with those/how you can contribute.