I applied on Yelp's website for an Account Executive position. Two days later, I got an enthusiastic-sounding email from a recruiter at Yelp requesting to set up a phone interview. I was excited for the first few days, given that I've been job hunting for over six months and this was only my second request for an interview. I sent in my available times and he set me up with a phone appointment.
I ended up kind of psyching myself out of doing well in the interview. From my research I got the impression that the position I had applied for would basically be a high-pressure call-center environment: an average of 90 or so cold calls a day, with plenty of angry, stressed out business owners on the other end. There appeared to be an excellent chance that I wouldn't make it through the initial 60 day trial period, and I got the idea that the sales reps were considered more expendable than other employees. The benefits and pay rates outlined in the job posting and in those initial emails from the recruiter did sound good, especially given the job I currently work in. However, having to pick up and move to San Francisco and sign a lease on a new place for a job that sounded like it would be far from a sure thing (not to mention that the work environment sounded pretty unpleasant) did not thrill me.
The phone interview itself was not bad. The interviewer called me right on time and asked me some pretty standard questions: why did I want to work at Yelp, why was I interested in changing careers, what did I know about the company and the position I was applying for, why would I be a good fit for the position, etc. They want very self-motivated salespeople who won't take no for an answer, and I was honest in saying that I'm not quite like that. I'm a very successful salesperson in my current setting, but I am not a high-pressure type because I know I'll have to see my customers again on a regular basis. This job is probably better suited to someone who has worked in a call center environment before, and for someone who can positively bounce back from annoyed and angry customers since, apparently, they have a whole lot of those.
While I think I did well in the interview, and I still think I could do the job well, I do not expect a call back. The interviewer sounded very neutral and unimpressed, though that may have been a tactic to see how well a potential employee can handle phone contact with people who aren't excited to hear from them.