As a hiring manager, you know what a good resume and cover letter look like. You also know that a good resume and cover letter might promise a lot, but fail to deliver the candidate you need. The phone interview questions you ask your shortlisted candidates will be a critical piece of winnowing the field and making a successful hire. Time always matters, so you should be both efficient and strategic during this initial call. Questions for a screening interview will of course touch on whether a candidate's hard skills, experience, education and certifications are right for the open position. But as you check off the boxes, pay attention to soft skills and how the candidate presents during the call. At the end of a phone screen interview, you want to be confident a candidate can not only do the job, but they’d be a good fit in your organizational culture. Open-ended, in-depth questions aren’t necessary at this stage of the hiring process. Your objective here is to narrow your list of good candidates to the handful you want to consider for formal interviews. Read on some phone interview questions to ask during this first round.....
Planning the Interview to decide what you want: Make a list of the roles and responsibilities that the candidate will be needed to fulfill. What are the primary things that you expect from the candidate and what are the three elements that every candidate must compulsorily possess?
Ask Good Questions to get Relevant Information: Tailor the phone interview questions to suit your industry and the role you’re hiring. But consider, too, the candidate’s professional history, or lack thereof. The questions should clearly reveal the candidates qualifications, cultural fit and salary expectations. Questions normally asked include why the candidate wants to work for you, why he or she left their last jobs or what salaries they expect. Beyond that you can also ask about what skills they value most and what are the things that they expect from a workplace that keeps them motivated and energized.
Education and Work Experience: Find out about the candidates’ education and work experience and if there is a gap between two jobs, it is important you find out why there is this gap in employment.
Seek Information About Past Companies: Seek details like what size was their last company, the number of employees, the turnover and what were the company’s principal products and markets. Find out what were the positions he or she held and what were their major accomplishments.
Reason for Leaving Last Employment: It is very important that you know why the candidate wants a job-change. Is he or she fickle minded and using each job as a stepping stone to the next one or is leaving because the current job does not merit their qualifications and worth?
Take Precise Notes: Interviewers normally know what questions to ask and the responses usually lead to follow up questions. However, it is important that you take down notes. When you go through them later, it will help you recollect the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.
Give Each Candidate A Tangible Score: Rate candidates on a score of 1-10, for each answer that they provide – the worst answers get 10, whilst the best get 1. Set a benchmark which automatically disqualifies candidates who fail to achieve a certain score from being further interviewed.
The information that you gather over the phone is normally enough for you to determine whether the candidate merits an in-person interview. It helps you to segregate the unworthy and concentrate your time and efforts on the best possible choices, to help you recruit the best.
STAY ALERT, STAY SAFE and HAPPY HIRING.