- Tell me about yourself/Tell me about your background. …
- Describe yourself. …
- Why are you applying for this position? …
- Why do you want this job? …
- Tell me what you know about the role. …
- Why do you want to work here? …
- Why are you looking for jobs? …
- What are you passionate about?
As a hiring manager, you know what a good resume and cover letter look like. You also know that despite their promises, they might fail to deliver the candidate you need. The phone interview questions you ask during this first round of vetting will be a critical piece of winnowing the field and making a successful hire.
Time always matters, so you should be both efficient and strategic during this initial call. Questions for a screening interview will touch on whether a candidates hard skills, experience, education and certifications are right for the open position. But as you check off the boxes, pay attention to soft skills and how the candidate presents during the call. At the end of a phone screen interview, you want to be confident a candidate can do the job and also mesh well with your organizational culture.
Open-ended or technical questions aren’t necessary at this stage of the hiring process. A screening interview is typically a 15- to 30-minute phone call. Your objective here is to narrow your list of top candidates to the handful you want to consider for formal interviews. That’s when you can go deep.
Read on for some tips for what to look for — including red flags — along with phone interview questions to ask during this first call, and what comes next.
The Art of the 15 Minute Interview
Spend 10 minutes asking them questions. People are always like “a 15 minute interview?! How do you justify that?!” Here’s what I say: “I know this is a little unorthodox, but we’ve had such a high response rate to this position ad and I’m so excited to be talking to you, but here’s the thing, I don’t want to waste your time and I don’t want to waste my time. So we’re going to spend a few minutes and I’m just going to get to know you a little bit and make sure it’s worth investing your time and mine into this full process. Does that sound fair?” And they will agree that that sounds fair.
How many of you love your company and would sell it to anybody? You find yourself on interviews selling people on why they need to come work for you. You’re like “we are so awesome! It’s absolutely amazing! You totally want to work for us!” And they don’t say anything. And you think it’s great! Then you hire them and you realize you know nothing about them because you sold them on the position and they suck.
Allow 5 minutes at the very end for them to ask you questions. This is so fun. But there’s some danger responses or danger questions you want to be aware of. So this is when you open it up for the 5-minute questions. So you say to people “okay. We’ve finished the first 10 minutes and I’ve asked you all the questions.” And if you still like them, you hang out for the next 5 minutes.
I’m not wasting my time on hiring people who can’t sell me in 15 minutes. They have 15 minutes to make me like them. If they can’t do that, they’re not going to be able to sell anybody on the phone.
These three are absolute red flags. If those are the first questions out of their mouth, any one of those, do not pass go. You know what I want to hear them say? “Hey, tell me about what I’ll be doing. Can you tell me a little bit about your team? What’s your culture like? What will I be responsible for every day? How are we going to measure success of the position? What’s a typical day look like for one of your buyer’s specialists? What’s a typical day look like for your marketing coordinator? What am I going to be doing on a daily basis?”
Phone Interview Structure
Here is the basic structure I follow:
“Tell me about yourself.” Or, ”Walk me through your resume.”
These two similar (but not identical) questions are common interview openers. Asking one of these helps connect the dots between you and the position, says Muse career coach Angela Smith, a former recruiter. Sometimes the person interviewing you won’t be the hiring manager but a recruiter or someone in HR who has little background in your field. In that case, they may have zero context as to what makes your resume a good fit. “And for people who have a really diverse background or random jobs,” she adds, “it can be hard for the person reading the resume to make those connections.”
Wascovich points out that what the interviewer is really looking for in your answer is: “Tell me about yourself as it’s relevant to the role you’re currently interviewing for.”
So focus on the skills and experiences that are most applicable. You can simplify your answer by using the “present-past-future” formula. Explain where you are and what you do now, segue into what you’ve done in the past, and end with a brief explanation of what you’re looking forward to doing in the future (and how it relates to this job!).
Desire for the job
Before discussing skills and training, your phone interview questions should gauge a candidate’s interest in the position. Questions about the role they have now — and why they want to leave it — can also tell you about their suitability for the one you’re hiring for.
PHONE INTERVIEW TIP: Listen for workplace cultural preferences as well as interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, leadership qualities, initiative and other soft skills. A candidate who’s looking for a greater challenge, for instance, might give you reason to consider them for a job that’s more demanding than their current role.
FAQ
What is asked in a 15 minute interview?
How do I ace a 15 minute interview?
- Confirm the scheduled time. Before the day of your interview, confirm the date and time so you’re sure to pick up when the call comes in. …
- Reschedule, if necessary. …
- Research the company. …
- Know who will be calling you. …
- Look over the job description. …
- Be an active listener. …
- Be professional. …
- Smile.
What are the 15 most common interview questions and answers?
- Tell me about yourself? …
- Why do you want to work for [insert company name]? …
- How did you hear about this job? …
- Tell me about something on your resume. …
- Why are you looking for a job? …
- Why should we hire you? …
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
