HOW TO RUN A GREAT PHONE SCREEN.
Get candidates excited as you decide “who’s in and who’s out.”
(1) Use the Performance Profile to structure the phone screen and tell the company story
(2) Ask 3 questions and dig deep into candidate answers to find evidence of high-performance
(3) Rank candidates using a consistent scorecard to ensure you capture fair, objective data
Great phone screens happen in three acts.
ACT 1 - THE INTRO. The Interviewer introduces themselves, summarizes the Performance Profile, and shares 1-2 reasons why they’re excited to speak with the candidate.
ACT 2 - THE INTERVIEW. The interviewer asks 3 basic questions to determine fit and motivation. The interviewer takes notes and “peels the onion” with follow-up questions to get at “what really happened.”
ACT 3 - Q&A - The interviewer leaves time for the candidate to ask questions and shares the next steps in the process.
Act 1 - THE INTRO
This is the easy part. Hence the giant font.
This is what you need to do.
Send the Performance Profile ahead of the phone screen. Convert it to pdf before you send it. Sharing the document helps candidates understand the position and what you’re looking for. It’s also an easy way to improve your employer brand.
Make a few notes on why their background is attractive before the phone screen and have them ready to share. (Yes, this means you need to look at their resume/Linkedin before the interview starts.)
Spend 5 minutes at most sharing a high-level overview of the company, how you make money, and how the position fits into “what’s most important, right now” for you and your team.
ACT II - THE SCREEN
This is where you will spend 80% or more of the conversation. It pays to be structured.
When we conduct a phone screen, we tend to ask three (just three) questions:
Question 1 - Background + Accomplishments. “I’ve had a look at your resume and your Linkedin profile, but I know they don’t always tell the whole story. Would you mind taking 2 minutes and summarizing what you were hired to do in your current role? What are you focused on now?”
Question 2 - Motivation. “I know it’s early in the process, but based on what you know so far, why this and why now?”
Question 3: Ability to do the job. “One of the key things we’re going to ask this person to accomplish is [XXX]. Can you tell me about a recent experience or accomplishment that is most similar to that?”
ACT III - Q&A + NEXT STEPS
Always leave time for questions. It makes candidates feel valued, gives them a chance to fill in the blanks early in the process, and signals to the candidate that their input is welcome - a key factor in building a successful team. When you have 5-10 minutes left in the interview, you can start wrapping things up by saying, “Those are all the questions I have for you, what questions do you have about the role, the team, or the company?”
Share color on the next steps in the process, even if you aren’t sure what they are. Candidates are busy people too. Don’t leave them wondering when (or if) they’ll hear back. If you’re not sure when you’re planning on making a decision, say something like this - “We’re still in the early stages of speaking with candidates but we’re hoping to start getting to our list of finalists in the next few weeks. If you don’t hear back by then feel free to reach out to me or to our People Ops team.”
Take notes and get to a go/no go decision.
First round interviews are about sorting the good candidates from those who aren’t a fit with the role. You don’t need to make a decision on who to hire yet - only who deserves to move on in the process.
Want a sample phone screen template?
Click the button above to access the “ParkerGale phone screen template. It’s the same one weuse when interviewing C-suite executives. It’s perfect for a 45-60 minute introductory phone screen. Make sure to think about “good answer vs. bad answer” before you start the call. Write down what you liked + what you still have questions on - this helps eliminate recency bias and will help you compare your impressions of candidates later on.