Effective Telephone Screening Interviews
July 22nd, 2009 . by Chris MursauAlmost every client we work with conducts at least one telephone screening interview before bringing a candidate in for face-to-face interviews, with the hope of “weeding out” people who do not fit the position or culture. As you may guess, some types of interviews are more effective than others. We do not personally do a lot of these interviews, but have gotten feedback on what seems to work best.
The interview structure that has been most effective for Topgrading companies can best be characterized as “Topgrading Light.” After giving the candidate a bit of information about the company and position, ask the Topgrading questions (from the interview guide) about the candidate’s education. Then skip the earlier career history, jump to the second most-recent job, and ask the 16 work history questions about that job and the most recent job. Finish the interiew by asking about the candidate’s short-term and long-term career goals and having them list their strengths and weaker points.
Though obviously not as robust as a full tandem Topgrading Interview, following the above guidelines will give you insights about what the person was like during their school days and what they are like now (strengths and weaknesses). You will have to make some inferences and assumptions because the earlier career history is skipped, but the patterns of behavior we search for throughout the Topgrading process will begin to “show themselves,” allowing you to make a better decision on whether or not to bring the candidate in for face-to-face interviews. You will experience fewer mishires simply because you will interview fewer weak or even mediocre candidates in person.
As a retainer-based recruiter who is a fanatical Topgrader, I believe strongly in full in-person tandem interviews for all finalists. However, we’ve found great success using “Topgrading Light” as a semi-final interview. We like to use it as a final phone interview before flying a candidate out for full tandem as a finalist, or as a semi-final in-person interview for local candidates.
Inserting it after the normal phone screen but before the full tandem serves two purposes for us. First, it is gives us increased confidence that it’s worth our and our client’s time and money to invest in the full tandem. Second, it prepares us to go slower and deeper on the most important jobs in the tandem since we’ve already gotten the surface stories once.