Phone interviews are an efficient way to screen a lot of candidates without investing too much of your time – or theirs – before deciding if they are qualified enough to bring in for a full interview. These tips will help you to conduct an effective phone interview and improve your overall hiring process.
Make an appointment.
Don’t spring a phone interview on a candidate. Sure, you might get a better read on how he answers questions off the cuff, but if he is currently employed or otherwise engaged, he will be distracted and will not perform well. You won’t be able to accurately assess the quality of the candidate.
Keep it short.
Generally phone interviews should be thirty minutes or less. Take a couple of minutes to tell the candidate about the opportunity and the company, and fifteen or twenty to ask some preliminary questions. Allow a few minutes for him to ask any questions he may have, then wrap up and discuss the next steps.
Be prepared.
Don’t interview the candidate if you have not read his resume or have a thorough understanding of the position you are conducting the interview for. You’ll be doing a disservice to both of you.
Stay on task.
This call is for screening, not final decision making. Don’t go off on a tangent or allow the candidate to ramble. If he gets too far off track, try to bring him back with clarifying questions.
Have structured questions.
Don’t try to wing a phone interview. The time is so short and the purpose so narrow that a defined structure and list of questions is critical to productivity.
Take good notes.
Chances are that you will phone screen many people. The calls will begin to run together and you won’t remember as much as you think you will. Go over the notes after the call, and format or clarify them so that they are easy to refer to later.
Be considerate of the candidate’s time.
Keep in mind that candidates frequently try to schedule phone interviews during their lunch hour or after work. If you run over, you could put them in a bind. Not the best first impression to make on a candidate.
End on a positive note.
Thank the candidate for his time; let him know what the next steps are and how he can follow up. If the call eliminated him from consideration, let him know right away or follow up with an immediate email.
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