Covid-19 has affected the way we used to recruit employees. Walk-in interviews and face-to-face meetings aren't possible. Most of the time, you need to hire candidates online. Remote jobs are high in demand as many people have to work from home. As you can't go with the usual interview techniques of panel or group meetings, you should stick with a phone job interview.

Hiring an employee on the phone is a bit more challenging than via face-to-face meeting. However, if you know the right way to engage employees through a phone interview, nothing seems like a challenge anymore.

Phone Interview-How Does it work?

As it describes it all, you make a call and conduct an interview on the phone. 

At present, if you hire a candidate through WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or Skype- it's technically the same thing.

In the first step, you post an ad and get tons of resumes.

After reviewing resumes, you shortlist some candidates and start contacting them.

You send them a text or email confirming phone interviewing timing. After getting their response, you conduct an interview at precisely that time.

Phone Interview Questions

As you need to interview a lot of candidates simultaneously, you won't be able to prepare different questions for them. There is a need to make a list of interview questions handy so that you can screen out the best candidate for the job efficiently. With different questions, evaluation becomes hard. Always keep a list of phone interview questions ready. I'm sharing the list that I used for a specific job screening purpose.

Start with Verification Questions

• Can you please describe Yourself in a few lines?
• What are your current job responsibilities?
• Explain your background a bit
• When you are planning to start a new job?
• What exactly are you looking for in your job?
• When are you planning to start a new job?

Try to set the tone by getting those answers. These fundamental questions will create a background, and you will get a better picture of a candidate.

Check Passion for Job

You need to hire a person who is excited to become a part of your company. If a candidate doesn't show any passion for work and job. You can skip his application right away. Without passion for a job, a person can't perform well.

How to Test this passion?

Well, here are some questions:

• Why did you apply for this job?
• What keeps you motivated on the job?
• Any specific questions for our job opening?

Dig into Interview Preparedness

The best candidate is the well-prepared one. You can check the interview preparedness of a candidate by asking him the following questions.

• Why did you apply for our company job?
• Do you like our product or services?
• What you think can make our company more successful?

The purpose of these company-oriented questions is to know whether that person has a job, homework, and research before picking that phone call.

What if he doesn't know anything? You shouldn't consider that person for the job. If he is taking this job interview lightly and doesn't prepare for it well, how can you expect him to make efforts for a specific job? 

Not doing research is either over-confidence or laziness- either trait is unacceptable.

Salary Expectations

If everything goes smoothly and you believe that this person can be your next employee, you should ask him about his salary expectations.

• What specific benefits do you want from this job?
• What salary are you expecting from us?
• What is your current salary?
• Do you mind if we don't offer you certain benefits?

If a candidate can offer you some quotes, he might have done market research about salary. The best person is one who is flexible and ready to negotiate some benefits and salary. A rigid one won't be a good choice.

Clarifications

Sometimes, you read a resume and cover letter, and some points seem confusing. If that's the case, you can ask some questions related to issues you found in your resume or cover letter. It's better to be cleared than to be confused about anything. With a clear picture in mind, the evaluation process becomes super easy.

• When did you achieve that specific award?
• Why did you take a career break?
• Why did you change your career?
• At what year you start your internship?
• Did you get a chance to work on this project during your apprenticeship?

The most important Points to Keep in Mind

When you conduct a phone job interview, don't rush. Give another candidate a chance to speak up his mind. Pay close attention to interpersonal and communication skills. You might not be able to look at his face, but you certainly are in a position to evaluate his communication style and tone.

Five Things You Should Never Ignore During Phone Interview

Phone interviews offer limited evaluation options to recruiters. However, when you pay close attention to words and tones, it becomes easy to find more.

1.Bad Mouth

It would be best if you asked some questions about current or past jobs. It is part of a phone job interviewing. During an interview, if a person bad mouths about his past employer, colleague, and other people, he might be a troublemaker. If he says all those things about his past employer, he might do the same for you. So, you should never trust that person.

2.Lack of Interest

 It is vital to ask some questions related to job passion. You can easily get an idea of whether a person is interested in the job or not from his answer if he seems uninterested or doesn't demonstrate any passion for a job. You should not hire him.

3.Money Talk Only 

You can have casual talk about money and salary, but when a candidate is too concerned about money and less in work, he is a deal-breaker. It would be best if you went with a candidate who focuses more on work and less on money.

4.Unprofessional Tone/Language

 A professional should sound professional at every place. If he becomes too casual or too friendly with you, it's an alarming situation. Remember, your employee represents your brand image. So, you can't take some risks by hiring those candidates who can't talk professionally.

5.No Question 

 At the end of the interview, every recruiter gives the candidate a chance to ask some questions. You can say, "Any question for me?" If they say they have none, it's a red signal. They must have prepared some questions for interviewers. No questions mean they didn't do their homework and aren't that interested in the position.

What do You need to do after the Phone call?

Try to keep the notepad close to you or record your call. When you have some notes, you can quickly screen a candidate. Give every candidate some scores or ratings like good-poor-excellent. In this way, you would find out about the right fit person for the position.

Sometimes, you finalize more than one person for the job. In that scenario, you can schedule a second job interview. In that interview, you can ask some specific questions. As you have known some basics, you can move with advanced interview questions like.

What are your biggest strengths?

How do you deal with demanding customers?

Sell me this pen?

Where do you see yourself in five-ten years?

Why should we hire you?

Conclusion

I have shared a complete guide for phone job interview screening. You can follow this guide and try to pick a candidate who can add some value to your company. Also, go with your gut feelings. You need to spend 15-30 minutes on a phone call. If a person is already employed, try to be a bit flexible about the interview time setting. Ask about the right job interview time and then schedule. Keep your good manners intact. You aren't the only one there judging; remember, candidates also judge companies. Keep that aspect in mind while conducting a phone job interview.