Save Time, Prescreen Your Candidates With The Phone Interview

Phone interviews are screening interviews that typically occur before a regular job interview. The phone interview ensures that you and your candidate are on the same page, while the traditional interview ensures that the candidate is qualified for the job. After a phone interview, you and your candidate should both know the following:

  • A mutual interest in the job opportunity
  • No questions about the corporation and the business
  • Agreement on compensation

When you schedule a phone interview, you will save yourself time and headaches down the road. You will also help the candidate by not wasting their time. Here are some things to consider about prescreening job candidates with a phone interview.

The Phone Interview

Plan for a 30-minute interview and set it up in stages. Start the interview with casual conversation. This stage is the time when you ask questions about the candidate and learn about them. This relaxed banter helps put the candidate at ease and gets the interview started on a positive note.

After establishing a connection with the candidate, it is time to inform them about the job. Explain the job requirements, discuss the needs of the team and the current projects. Describe your organizational goals for the quarter and the fiscal year. Upon completion of your descriptions, ask the candidate if they have questions. This opportunity ensures that the candidate is conscious about the position for which they are interviewing.

Salary is covered about 20 minutes into the phone interview. It is crucial that you remain transparent during this portion of the interview by suggesting a budget range you have in mind for the role. It does not matter if the candidate accepts the position. You want to know if the aspirant is comfortable with the range. When you inform candidates early on about the salary range, it will tell you that the candidate moving forward is qualified and willing to accept a job offer. Spend the final minutes, allowing the candidate to ask questions.

Avoid Common Mistakes

A frequent mistake that interviewers make while conducting a phone interview is not letting the candidate speak. Chances are that this mistake is not intentional. However, if you talk nonstop for 30 minutes about the role, the company and the team, little time is left for the candidate. Remember that you are information-gathering in this interview so let the candidate tell you what you need to know.

Do not let shy job candidates stay silent during the interview. It is vital that you ask and phrase questions that get the applicant involved in the conversation. These quiet candidates need nudging, so be sure to ask open-ended questions.

Partner with SI Staffing and let their team of professional staffers help you operate more efficiently and cost-effectively. Spend less time locating and screening talent, and gain access to quality employees with hard-to-find skill sets.

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