With many people applying for jobs ever than before, many recruiters are using phone interview as the first stage in hiring process. The phone interview is not only cheaper than the face-to-face interview but is also easier to conduct. Apparently, phone interview is an excellent interview activity to include when you are recruiting. Conducting a phone interview remains a key step in the hiring process.
You can have an in-depth conversation with a promising candidate who lives outside your immediate area. It also enables you to make a decision whether the candidates are suitable enough to bring them in the face-to-face interview or not. Besides the effective decision making, you will be able to identify the best person suitable for your company. Conducting a phone interview might require many things to take care of.
So, here are some tips you need to consider while conducting a phone interview.
Preparation
The first thing you need to remember is that you must be prepared before calling in for a phone interview. Without a good preparation, you might get yourself making several mistakes and making your candidate even more nervous.
Therefore, you must be careful enough to have all the required documents such as CV, Resume, and Bio-data of the candidate in front of you. You can even open their LinkedIn profile in your laptop and put it in front of you.
Conduct the Interview
While conducting a phone interview, it's important to remember the little things and manage them in appropriate way. For instance, the conversation may be hampered by the noise outside your place or there might be a technical problem.
Therefore, you should arrange a place with no disturbance and a spot with good signal so there will not be any technical disturbance later on.
Start Conversation Smoothly
Effective phone interview will require a conversation with a smooth beginning. Instead of asking the candidate about why they wish to work in your company, you can start with a simple question asking about their interest and hobbies.
Then only, you can jump to the main point and evaluate the candidate whether they are worth taking into another step of hiring process or not.
Ask More Open-Ended Questions
You should know that asking questions that gives the candidate the opportunity to talk at length about their work experience and skills is highly beneficial. Therefore, you need to ask more questions that are open-ended in order to make the conversation more meaningful.
Questions like "What projects have you worked on that you feel have developed skills you can bring to this role?" or "Give an example of a time when you've worked in a similar role." will be suitable.
Make Notes
Taking notes is one of the most important aspects to remember all the details in a proper way. You might be making a number of calls in a day and chances are you won't be sure of who said what. Therefore, make sure you have a paper and pen with you.
Take notes on areas such as technical competence, communication skills, engagement and perhaps experience of the candidates. This will be quite helpful in times of making a good decision.
End With a Friendly Note
Whether you're having a face-to-face interview or a phone interview with the candidate, it is very important to maintain professionalism at all times. Even if you think that they are not suitable for the post, you should always end the conversation with a friendly note.
You should remember that you're representing your company and being rude will do no good. It will only hamper the image of your company rather than hampering your own image.
Follow Up
Follow up is very necessary for every employers and recruiters. Even though the candidates were not suitable for the given post and they were rejected for further process, make sure you will still follow up with them. You need to be aware of the fact that they deserve to be updated.
After all, they're just trying to find a job and wouldn't want to wait for one that they're not going to get. So, these are the things you need to follow in order to conduct an effective phone interview and hire a perfect candidate for the given post.
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