You have posted your job opening, you have screened your resumes and now have some candidates that have caught your eye and you want to interview them. Ok so my next step is to set up face to face interviews, right? No your next step is a brief phone interview.
You are probably asking “why would I do a phone interview, and then a face to face interview? Doesn’t that waste more time? I should just go right to the face to face interview stage, right?” We are a small business too, and we know that time is precious and no one likes it wasted.
Imagine you have set up 4 face to face interviews and you are excited to meet the candidates and get this role filled. You meet with the first candidate, who after the first 10 minutes (or less) you realize isn’t right for the job. You have your next interview and the same thing-not the right person either. You interview the last 2 and they are ok, but not as strong as they seemed on paper. You have spent the last 1-2 days interviewing, have had 2 that won’t be a fit, and 2 that aren’t that strong.
This is exactly why MKS HR recommends doing a brief phone screen before you bring them in for a face to face interview. This way you don’t waste all that time and go back to square one. This initial phone screen first of all, allows you to hear how their communication skills are, their level of interest in the role and the company. It also allows you to see if they sound as good as they look on paper. Applicant’s today can have their resume professionally written, which is fine but if they haven’t been honest in terms of what they have actually done in a role before, the initial phone screen brings that out. How does that happen? Ask them when you are on the phone with them.
For example, say something like this-“I see from your resume you were the lead on a marketing project at your last place of work. Tell me more about it-what did you do, how involved were you. When say you were a lead, what does that mean exactly.” Just by probing for more details you will be able to tell if what they have put down is accurate or not.
Again this shouldn’t take up half your day-each initial phone screen should take 10 minutes in total. This step is a huge time saver in your overall hiring process, and you will be happy in the end you did this step instead of skipping ahead to the face to face interview stage.
Do you want to use the same go to questions MKS HR uses for its clients?Here they are!
If you need additional help in putting together a hiring plan for your business please reach out and click here to book a complimentary Discovery call.