How to Do a 2 Minute Phone Interview

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to become more effective at interviewing, start the process with the 2-minute interview. Even though you are reducing the time spent on an interview, you are increasing your effectiveness, while also reducing your turnover risk

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Phone
• Paper
• Writing Utensil

1. Schedule a time with your candidate for a phone interview, prior to bringing them in. This saves you time because you will be able to eliminate unsuitable candidates before taking precious time out of your day to meet them in person
2. Pre Screen the Applicant based on the big 3 candidate busters.
   The top three reasons a candidate ends up not staying in a position are:
   
   1. The employee is unhappy with the pay scale and reluctant to discuss it.
   Research your pay scale prior to advertising for a position. Find out what a fair wage is, based on experience and training. If you are looking for workers with more than 1 year experience, be prepared to pay for it.
   
   2. The work location is inconvenient or too far away for the employee. With the price of gas these days, location is highly important, even if the employee doesn’t realize it initially. If an employee lives more than 20 miles from your location, the chances of turnover increase exponentially. Of course, there are people for whom the commute is not a problem. But those individuals are not in the majority.
   
   3. The employee is unqualified or uninterested in the position. It seems to be common sense, but people often do apply for positions that they are not qualified for or interested in “Just to be doing something.” Your company is not in the business of helping people figure out what they want, so don’t allow yourself to be used in that way.
3. Ask the following Question
   
   1. What kind of position are you looking for? -If a candidate is looking for a position totally different from the one that you have open, take that as a clue that they have applied for something they are not interested in long term.
   Take Notes on response
4. Ask the following question
   
   2. What area of town are you looking to work in?- Again, if they live more than 20 miles from your location, take caution in bringing this person in. Dig deeper by asking about the location of their previous employers, and that will give you a clue as to whether this is one of the few individuals who will actually commute.
   
   Take Notes
5. Ask The Following Question
   3. What are your salary requirements?- Pay close attention to their answer. Ask how much they made at their previous position. If there is a huge difference between what they were making before, and what you are offering, take note of that.
6. 4. Why did you leave your last position?- The answer to this is crucial. If the applicant begins to bash their previous place of work, take this as a hint that they may say the same things about your company if it ends up not working out. If they are currently employed, find out why they want to leave.
   
   Take Notes

Tips & Warnings

• Using these four simple questions prior to meeting with candidates will save you time and money by not spending time to people who aren’t interested in your position, or have unrealistic expectations of the pay. Take notes of responses, and make your final decision to interview based on those notes.
• Depending on the position and candidate response, the phone interview may take longer than 2 minutes. Allow a minimum of 30 minutes between scheduled phone interviews.