How to Write Phone Interview Questions

You have to hire someone soon, but you don't have the time to interview 100's of people. What do you do? Conduct phone interviews, they are quick, easy and effective if you ask the right questions.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Job description
• Skill Requirements
• Experience Requirements
• Company Vision

1. Gather your Resources - In order to write effective phone interview questions you need all the right resources. The job description, skill and experience requirements are a must. Hopefully you crafted a well thought out, clear job description for your hiring advertisement. From these you'll build 5-7 questions.

2. Opening Question - A phone interview is short, quick and to the point no more than 15-30 minutes. Your opening question beyond "How are you doing?" should force the candidate to talk about themselves. So leave it somewhat vague, but specific enough you don't end up talking about their dog. For example, "Describe the experiences and skills you would like to highlight form your resume or beyond it?"

3. Technical Questions - Be sure to make sure the qualify for the position regardless of what the resume says. If your an accounting firm, "how much tax experience do you have?", "What type?", "What about bookkeeping experience?". Always ask what computer programs they are familiar with and what level - basic, intermediate, expert.

4. Personality Questions - These questions look beyond technical into what type of person they are. A favorite is, "What are your 3 strengths?", "and 3 weaknesses?". If they are just out of college they will probably be prepared for this so you may need to dig deeper with follow up questions.

5. Management\Corporate Culture Questions - The fact is hiring is an expensive process, but not nearly as expensive as wasted money on a bad hire. You want to make sure they fit your corporate culture and management style. Ask "What is the perfect management style for you?" or "What would be your perfect work environment?"

6. Follow Up Questions - Throughout the interview write down any follow up questions you need to ask to clarify their answers or just to sate your curiosity. You can learn a lot about someone by digging deeper into an answer. It also points out the difference in job candidates. So leave space for them at the bottom of your page of questions.

7. Your Talk - At the bottom of your list of questions write up what you want to tell the candidate. Normally this includes bio of the company, specifics of the job description, management and corporate culture, and the next step in the interview process. Also be ready to give them a date when you will be back in touch with them.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have a list of questions for "live" interviews use some of them on the phone interview.
• Make sure you have a quiet place to conduct the phone interview.
• Write up all the questions you can think of and then narrow it to no more than 7 questions.
• Don't ask every question you think off, you still have a "live" interview.
• Be prepared to take control of the interview if the conversation wanders
• Make sure the questions match your company vision not just who your company is now.

Resources

• Society for HR Management
• Ehow - How to Phone Interview Potential Employees

[Qualitas]

on 10/8/2009 Jacelyajones thanks for the comments, fixed those areas up. Sometimes I get in a hurry and miss the basics. Looking forward to reading some of your articles.

[jacelyajones]

on 10/8/2009 I hate to nitpick, but right away I have to say: You shoot an arrow through your article's credibility by starting off with a few misspellings: "You have to hire someone an [sic] soon...". And then: "In order to right [sic] effective phone interview questions...". I think the content, however, is very helpful! Thank you. Good luck!