Job Candidate Phone Screens: Three Areas to Evaluate

Phone screens are a great way for small, fast growing, and geographically dispersed companies to make sure that they are not wasting time and money on unqualified candidates.

Combined with the right interviewing skills, the phone screener can effectively and quickly eliminate up to 50% of applicants who would waste your hiring managers’ precious time. Here are three key ways screening can help:

1. Validity: Phone screens are a great way to confirm what is listed on the resume, challenge accomplishments, and probe for actual proficiency levels. One recent study found that 54% of candidates submitted false or inflated resumes.
   
   
2. Drive: Before you invest the time, effort, and interviewing skills on a prospective new hire, it is helpful to determine their genuine level of enthusiasm for the job.
   
   
3. Fit: Assuming that a candidate’s resume is sound and that they are motivated to accept the job if offered, your last phone screening area is to evaluate the one or two “must have” competencies required for success.

If the candidate passes all three tests, they have made it through the screen.