Stephen A. Laser, PhD, Managing Director, Stephen A. Laser Associates
In today’s busy world of business the notion of doing things faster and more efficiently makes telephone interviewing an attractive tool to help screen candidates for job openings. Telephone interviews also save travel costs, while serving as a powerful initial screening tool. The individuals conducting telephone screening interviews include in-house human resources staff, typically members of the HR department’s recruiting team, as well as outside recruiting services, and even industrial/organizational psychologists, such as the individuals employed in our firm. Telephone interview questions are straightforward and designed to determine the suitability and fit of a candidate for particular job. While final decisions about extending a final job offer are rarely made as a result of telephone interviews, they provide the basis for either advancing a candidate further in the hiring process or grounds for early elimination.
However, something often overlooked by recruiters is the mindset or attitude of candidates regarding their frustration with the hiring process and the strong likelihood that this might be the individual’s very first interview after sending out hundreds of emails and resumes without the courtesy of even so much as a reply back. Finally given the chance to tell their side of the story, the telephone interview can result in an information dump causing the candidate to talk too much, thereby increasing the person’s chances of being disqualified in the early rounds of the hiring process. Even though this might be the candidate’s first opportunity to talk to a “live voice” about a job opening, the recruiter on the other end of the telephone probably speaks to dozens of candidates each day. Nevertheless, try to be empathetic.
In light of the above-mentioned observation, we would strongly suggest that the interviewer make candidates aware of the time-limits they are facing by stating at the beginning of the conversation about how much time will be required to conduct the interview. Typically, such encounters take from 45 minutes to an hour, but some have been known to run longer. But since efficiency is the operative term, most telephone interviews will generally be shorter versus longer in length. No matter how much time is allotted to the interview, it is important to make sure the candidate answers all questions directly and fully.
Although the so-called nuances of “body language” are missing from the telephone interview, unless the interviewer uses Skype or some form of teleconferencing, the whole notion of making important judgments about a candidate’s posture and eye contact is vastly overrated. Moreover, the idea of focusing exclusively on a candidate’s capabilities as opposed to being distracted by appearance makes a lot of sense. At the same time certain jobs require a strong positive impact based in part on personal appearance. For example, certain sales roles where the candidate will only have a few minutes in front of a prospective customer could fall under this heading. But before a company proceeds with an applicant’s candidacy and the chance to evaluate appearance in person, a pre-screening telephone interview will help assess the individual’s ability to handle other key essential functions of the job.
Recruiters and others who use telephone interviews should consider the following points. First, if possible try to initiate or take the call on a landline as opposed to a cellular telephone. Now, in today’s cost-conscious environment many people – especially those who are younger (and more hip) – only have a cell phone and not a landline. If you are forced to communicate by cell phone make sure you can hear the candidate clearly. Dropped calls during a phone interview break concentration and hurt rapport building. Similarly, caution candidates to make sure their surroundings are quiet and free of distraction. Barking dogs, screaming children, and televisions sets blaring in the background are significant distractions.
Prior to conducting a telephone interview, advise candidates by email to have a copy of their resume handy in order to refer to important information, like job titles and responsibilities along with employment dates. Similarly, it is a good idea to suggest having other supporting information readily accessible, such as performance appraisals and even 360-degree feedback surveys. While the information in some of these other documents might cite potential limitations, remind candidates that being forthright and honest will win more points than trying to conceal information which will likely surface later in the hiring process, either through reference checks or the observations of the team of people conducting face-to-face interviews at their prospective employer.
For the telephone interviewer be prepared to discuss the highlights and setbacks which occurred during a candidate’s career. Look not only for how candidates handled these incidents, but also what lessons they learned in the process; and perhaps, even more importantly, how they have applied those lessons going forward. It is also advisable to dig for specifics. For example, during my many years of interviewing potential job candidates I’ve heard them say they don’t want to be “micromanaged.” Interestingly enough, however, I’ve heard many, many different definitions of “micromanagement” from having a boss who regularly reviews emails and checks-in by phone three or four times a day to bosses who request a quarterly update – quite a discrepancy! For any commonly used term such as “challenge” or “corporate politics,” make sure you define exactly what the candidate means. There is a lot of valuable information to be gleaned in probing these terms.
On those occasions where the candidate has over-answered the question or talked too much, there is often a common thread or theme to the situation. In particular, candidates tend to become chatty when they are trying to defend themselves or rationalize an aspect of their past behavior which they feel might reflect poorly on their candidacy for the job. For example, applicants without a college diploma often talk at length as to what caused them to leave school without finishing their degree studies. In other instances, applicants ramble on and on in order to rationalize why they stayed only a short while at a specific job when the rest of their resume is a picture of employment stability. Finally, as with the above examples, defending a critical comment from a performance appraisal or the results of a 360-degree feedback survey adds time to the interview, but obviously this information is valuable and ultimately, it will help you improve your odds of making a good hire for the organization.
In closing, telephone interviews are an effective tool which can lead to higher quality hires, while saving significant costs. Moreover, many of the tenets of effective telephone interviewing pertain to face-to-face interviews as well, and thus, applying many of these principles will enhance the hiring process.
Stephen A. Laser, PhD has over 30 years of experience as a business psychologist and is the author of “Out-of-Work and Over-40: Practical Advice for Surviving Unemployment and Finding a Job.” He has been featured as an expert by BusinessWeek.com, CBS MoneyWatch, Huffington Post, Black Enterprise, and the Chicago Tribune. More information can be found at www.laserassociates.net.
