Hi, I received a beautiful article by Jack Deal relating to Telephonic Interviewing do's and don'ts.
Kiran
Telephone interviews are a little-used recruiting tool that can bring a number of benefits when used appropriately.
In the past few years, I have been asked more and more to conduct recruiting and train managers on how to recruit. For me, the telephone interview has become an integral part of a good recruitment plan.
A productive telephone interview is not complex, though it does require some discipline and focus. To get those impressive results, consider the following:
- Stay legal. Do not say or ask anything over the phone that you would not say in a face-to-face interview.
- Make the telephone interview a part of your regular process.
- Examine your recruitment process from beginning to end to ensure your telephone interviews fit smoothly with other efforts.
- Telephone interviews are usually best when done after a resume review. (See the article "What Do I Do With This Stack Of Resumes?")
- Use the telephone interview as a way to weed out inappropriate candidates. This is one of the best uses of the telephone interview—it saves you time in useless face-to-face interviews.
- For positions that require high customer contact, high employee contact, and high telephone contact, use the telephone interview as a screen.
- Understand that many voices change when going over phone lines.
- Listen to what the candidate says. This can sometimes give a much more accurate representation of the candidate since they do not have time to mentally rehearse an interview.
- Understand that the importance of the phone interview can vary with the position you are offering. For instance, I like to recruit office managers with a resume and a telephone interview. If they do not send a well-composed resume, how will they compose company communications? If they mumble on the phone, what will your customers and vendors perceive?
- Use the telephone interview to find out quickly about the candidate. More traditional types of screening may take days or weeks.
- Be open to the candidate that 'knocks your socks off.' Good recruits are becoming harder to find. Good recruits get hired quickly! I have actually conducted a solid telephone interview, set up a fast face-to-face interview, and hired the candidate on the spot. 'He who hesitates is lost.'
- Develop your own little 'toolbox' of questions. I like to use questions like 'what are you looking for long-term?', 'give me a sense of your skill level', and 'what kind of opportunity are you looking for?'
The telephone interview is a type of art that improves with practice. Like any skill, start with the fundamentals and build. When used effectively, the telephone interview can help you get the results you want.
From India, Hyderabad
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68Kiran
Telephone interviews are a little-used recruiting tool that can bring a number of benefits when used appropriately.
In the past few years, I have been asked more and more to conduct recruiting and train managers on how to recruit. For me, the telephone interview has become an integral part of a good recruitment plan.
A productive telephone interview is not complex, though it does require some discipline and focus. To get those impressive results, consider the following:
- Stay legal. Do not say or ask anything over the phone that you would not say in a face-to-face interview.
- Make the telephone interview a part of your regular process.
- Examine your recruitment process from beginning to end to ensure your telephone interviews fit smoothly with other efforts.
- Telephone interviews are usually best when done after a resume review. (See the article "What Do I Do With This Stack Of Resumes?")
- Use the telephone interview as a way to weed out inappropriate candidates. This is one of the best uses of the telephone interview—it saves you time in useless face-to-face interviews.
- For positions that require high customer contact, high employee contact, and high telephone contact, use the telephone interview as a screen.
- Understand that many voices change when going over phone lines.
- Listen to what the candidate says. This can sometimes give a much more accurate representation of the candidate since they do not have time to mentally rehearse an interview.
- Understand that the importance of the phone interview can vary with the position you are offering. For instance, I like to recruit office managers with a resume and a telephone interview. If they do not send a well-composed resume, how will they compose company communications? If they mumble on the phone, what will your customers and vendors perceive?
- Use the telephone interview to find out quickly about the candidate. More traditional types of screening may take days or weeks.
- Be open to the candidate that 'knocks your socks off.' Good recruits are becoming harder to find. Good recruits get hired quickly! I have actually conducted a solid telephone interview, set up a fast face-to-face interview, and hired the candidate on the spot. 'He who hesitates is lost.'
- Develop your own little 'toolbox' of questions. I like to use questions like 'what are you looking for long-term?', 'give me a sense of your skill level', and 'what kind of opportunity are you looking for?'
The telephone interview is a type of art that improves with practice. Like any skill, start with the fundamentals and build. When used effectively, the telephone interview can help you get the results you want.
From India, Hyderabad
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Effectively telephone screening/interviewing saves a lot of time.
Let's say we have face-to-face interviews that last a minimum of 15 minutes (in the case of elimination) and a maximum of 1 hour (for recommendations). An interview over the phone can last from 10 minutes to 30 minutes. You get a good idea of the person. If you want to eliminate someone, you can do that. You save the interviewers' time (their preparation time for interviewing, the interviewing time, and also prevent the man-hours wasted by the interviewers). Also, you save your own time in coordinating and conducting the interviews.
Time is money. One could potentially find 2 better candidates in that amount of time (hypothetically!).
From United States, San Diego
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Let's say we have face-to-face interviews that last a minimum of 15 minutes (in the case of elimination) and a maximum of 1 hour (for recommendations). An interview over the phone can last from 10 minutes to 30 minutes. You get a good idea of the person. If you want to eliminate someone, you can do that. You save the interviewers' time (their preparation time for interviewing, the interviewing time, and also prevent the man-hours wasted by the interviewers). Also, you save your own time in coordinating and conducting the interviews.
Time is money. One could potentially find 2 better candidates in that amount of time (hypothetically!).
From United States, San Diego
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Hi Kiran,
Thank you for the valuable tips. We conduct telephonic interviews, which not only save costs but also save time for both the interviewer and interviewee. Moreover, both parties feel comfortable. It's a good tool for screening.
Cheers,
Deepali
From India, Delhi
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Thank you for the valuable tips. We conduct telephonic interviews, which not only save costs but also save time for both the interviewer and interviewee. Moreover, both parties feel comfortable. It's a good tool for screening.
Cheers,
Deepali
From India, Delhi
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Hey Kiran, Again a good article. Very nice and gives a lot of tips for recruitersl like me to handle Telephonic Interviews. Thanks for posting. Have a good day. Archna
From India, Delhi
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From India, Delhi
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GOOD ONE , BUT ONE QUERY ABOUT THE CAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN FOR THE CANDIDATE TO BE INTERVIWED WHILE ATTENDING TELEPHONINC INTERVIEW WAITING.......... AMIT
From India, Delhi
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From India, Delhi
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Give me a day amit.. i will keep all the cautions required by the candidate while attending telephonic
From India, Hyderabad
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From India, Hyderabad
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