How to Use Phone Interviews to Narrow Job Candidates

Conducting a telephone interview can help you narrow down the list of job applicants to call in for an interview. Before calling a job applicant, review the resumé and cover letter carefully, noting questions to ask. Here are a few good questions:

• “Tell me a little about yourself and your work history.”

  
  



• “What interests you about this job?”

  
  



• “What skills can you bring to the job?”

  
  



• “What sort of work environment brings out your best performance?”

  
  

Estimate how long you’ll need to effectively conduct a telephone interview with job applicants. It typically can take from 15 to 30 minutes: 15 minutes for a basic interview and 30 minutes if you want to ask deeper questions for a more comprehensive initial assessment of match and fit to your company.

Without a guideline, you may spend too much or too little time on a phone interview. The key is to be consistent with your questions so that you can fairly compare job hopefuls.

If the candidate isn’t available and you need to leave a message, suggest a timeframe for when he or she should return your call the next day. This request can be a good test of initiative — candidates who fail to return the call or who don't make a reasonable effort to contact you to make alternative arrangements demonstrate either a lack of interest or a lack of commitment.

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