This assumes you began your application online and have to complete it over the phone.
File on your day. Monday is A-F, Tuesday is G-N, Wednesday is O-Z. You can also try on Thurs/Fri/Sat but that's for everyone and your chances of getting thru are worse.
Call at 8am. The earlier you call, the less # of people you're competing against. I tried at 1pm one day, and called 200x and didn't get through. I tried at 8:30 on a Monday and did.
Once you get thru, press 1 for English, then you have to sit through a prerecorded message. After about 1:50 it asks if you're extending benefits. If you're filing a new claim, press 2. Then 9, then 2. Then you'll enter your SSN and your 4 digit pin. At this point you either get put on the actual wait or you get kicked off.
To double my chances of getting through, I called simultaneously on my phone and via Google Hangouts on my iPad.
You know you got thru when you hear a pre recorded voice tell you your wait time. Then it's music/other prerecorded messages until you get an operator.
Once you get through make sure you have all the employer info for the last job you WORKED (not got paid for). This is relevant if you're an actor (like me), and worked on day 1 but got a residuals check for another project on day 3. You report day 1.
When you're done, keep your phone on and ringer volume up (I set my phone to Do Not Disturb mode and it screwed me), because they might call you later from a # with no Caller ID with follow up questions, and if you don't pick up they'll leave a message and who knows when they'll call back.
